Becton Dickinson Joins Babson Diagnostics To Produce A Capillary Blood Collection Device For Retail Settings

As the demand for blood samples continues to increase, researchers are calibrating preexisting collection methods to produce accurate results in pharmaceutical retail settings. Global medical technology company Becton Dickinson (BD) has partnered with Siemens and Babson Diagnostics to develop a capillary blood collection device that enables fast, affordable, and accurate test results.

Previous capillary blood collection has resulted in altered and contaminated samples due to squeezing of the skin. This new test requires only a pea sized amount of blood which is placed in a specialized container for preservation and is then tested in a CLIA laboratory. This method allows for laboratory quality results in convenient settings such as retail pharmacies, urgent care centers, and doctors’ offices.

Babson Diagnostics looks to achieve the industry's long-term goal of fast and efficient blood testing in retail settings by eliminating the need for phlebotomists and painful blood collection experiences. As the diagnostic testing market expands along with the need for fast and reliable results, BD’s partnership with Siemens’ automation and Babson’s analytical technology caters to the rapid trends in the healthcare industry.

President of the Life Sciences segment for BD, Dave Hickey claims, “The combination of BD’s capillary device and Babson’s sample handling and analysis technology has incredible potential to improve the retail diagnostic blood testing process, with the ultimate goal of enabling simple, convenient, an accessible blood testing for all.”

Both companies will submit the device to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory bodies after completing clinical trials in retail pharmacy settings. BD and Babson’s partnership is a result of ongoing collaborations since 2017. Both companies are conducting clinical trials comparing the new device with the usual venipuncture method. Last fall the company claimed there was a strong correlation between the methods across testing panels and stated that the trials were a step towards clinical equivalence.

The timing of this partnership demonstrates each company's dedication to healthcare and meeting market needs. Currently, COVID-19 is pressing the industry for preventative care and testing options.  BD, Babson Diagnostics, and Siemens are working to produce convenient and reliable devices to reshape the delivery of diagnostic blood testing.