Spot On Sciences, Inc., a medical device company, has been selected to participate in the fifth annual SXSW Interactive Accelerator to be held March 11-12, 2013 in Austin, Texas. The company’s initial products enable remote and self-collection of blood samples offering solutions for multiple markets including clinical trials, biobanking, home-based diagnostics, military field medicine and population studies. The SXSW Interactive features competitively selected emerging technologies in six distinct areas including Health Technologies. This focus has earned the festival a reputation as a breeding ground for new ideas and creative technologies.
“The Spot On Sciences team, led by Dr. Jeanette Hill, deserves this recognition” said Terry Chase Hazell, Chair Texas Emerging Technology Fund Advisory. “ I’ve watched the company grow from the idea stage to receiving grants to a solidly bootstrapped biotech firm with amazing prospects” Hazell continued.
Jeanette Hill, CEO of Spot On Sciences, commented that, “We are one of only two companies from Austin that were selected for this showcase out of a pool of 500 applicants from around the world. It’s great to be singled out in this way.”
About Spot On Sciences
Spot On Sciences, Inc., located in Austin, Texas, is a medical device company that develops and markets innovative methods for collecting and storing biological samples. The company’s premier product, HemaSpot™, enables remote blood sample collection for diagnostic dried blood spot (DBS) testing. The moisture-tight device reduces sample contamination and ensures robust and stable sample collection, shipment and storage at ambient temperature. The single-use HemaSpot™ device uses a finger stick to collect and dry two drops of blood within a protective cartridge. Once dried, the sample is stable at room temperature and can be safely and easily shipped to a diagnostic test site for analysis. Traditional DBS involves a multi-step process that is subject to errors from moisture, contamination, and sample loss. HemaSpot’s™ innovative design addresses these problems, streamlining the entire process. Common disease markers can be measured including proteins, nucleic acids and small molecules.
More than 20 billion blood tests are performed annually worldwide with in vitro diagnostics showing sales of an estimated US$28.6 billion worldwide. Spot On Sciences aspires to change existing paradigms in this mature market with technologies that simplify processes, save time and reduce costs.
In 2012, Spot On Sciences was awarded a two-year, $1 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II award from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to further develop a device that would allow anyone to take a blood sample in any location and ship or store the samples at room temperature.
The firm was selected in 2011 as a finalist for the prestigious Cartier Women’s Initiative Award.
