Company Aims to Make Blood Tests Faster, Easier, Cheaper

A San Diego biotech company is developing a device that could change how people get routine blood tests.

Truvian, which moved into its new UTC area headquarters Thursday, is developing a product that could deliver 40 routine results within 20 minutes, requiring just five drops of blood.

The company’s chief executive says it should cost less than $50.

“We’re going to give you those results in 20 minutes, and it will cost you or your insurance a fraction of what you’re paying today,” said Jeff Hawkins, CEO of Truvian.

The company has 50 employees working to develop the system, which it plans to submit to the Food and Drug Administration next year. Hawkins said the idea is to get the product into retail clinics like at CVS, Walgreens and Walmart, plus private and corporate clinics.

Kim Kamdar, a co-founder, said it will allow patients to get their clinical chemistry, immunoassays and hematology, which cover the range of routine blood work.

Truvian’s announcement comes about a year after Theranos shut down.

Theranos promised hundreds of results from a single drop of blood, but investigations uncovered fraudulent claims. Now, its founder Elizabeth Holmes and former president Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani face criminal charges.

Hawkins said Truvian is different because it knows its limits.

“We, from day one, got advisors who are clinicians, who are laboratory medicine specialists, who work in academia, who work in hospitals every day, to be the people who are critiquing our work,” he said. “We wanted to surround ourselves with people who would critique our work and make sure we are hitting the bar that’s needed.”

Truvian plans to hire 30 people in the coming year.

If all goes as planned, Truvian’s system could hit the U.S. market by mid 2021.

Click here to learn more about Truvian.