Loop Medical develops needle-free device for collecting blood samples

Loop Medical's innovative technology offers a needle-free, painless and easy-to-use method for collecting blood samples. The startup closed a $6.4 million Series A financing round led by Sarstedt Group and Casdin Capital in mid-October, reflecting the high potential investors see in its approach. The proceeds will be used to obtain clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and ramp up manufacturing of the new system.

Loop Medical has raised over $10 million in investment and grants, including $3.6 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, since it was founded in 2016. The firm entered into a partnership agreement with Cerba HealthCare, a global leader in medical biology, in 2018.

Reinventing blood collection

Loop Medical's device allows blood samples to be taken in a minimally invasive, painless way. Once positioned on a patient's upper arm, it enhances capillary blood flow just beneath the skin through a combination of patented skin vasodilation and micro-incision technology. The sampling process takes only a few minutes. "Our system delivers blood samples of the same quality as those obtained through standard venipuncture," says Arthur Queval, CEO of Loop Medical. "But with our device, there's less risk of hemolysis, or red blood cell destruction, and there's reduced interstitial fluid contamination."

Another advantage of the new system is that it can be used by professionals, but also by patients themselves, right in their own homes. They simply need to push a button to withdraw one mL of blood at a time, which is a quantity large enough to be compatible with the high-throughput blood analyzers used in major laboratories. They can then send their samples to a laboratory for analysis through a special shipping procedure.

Loop Medical plans to target the home, clinical trial and liquid-biopsy testing markets, providing a less-invasive alternative to the tissue-based biopsies usually performed in oncology.