Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD), Franklin Lakes, NJ, and Babson Diagnostics, Austin, Texas, have formed a long-term partnership to bring laboratory-quality, small-volume blood collection to retail pharmacies.

Their goal is to enable retail pharmacies to offer laboratory-quality diagnostic testing by combining BD’s capillary blood collection device with Babson Diagnostics’ automated sample handling and analytical technologies. Both companies’ technologies are in development.

BD’s new capillary specimen collection device is designed to enable the collection of laboratory-quality specimens without the need to access a vein. The small-volume blood collection devices will be for use in healthcare settings without a trained phlebotomist, such as retail pharmacies, physician offices, urgent care centers, and skilled nursing facilities.

Patrick Kaltenbach, Becton, Dickinson and Company .

Patrick Kaltenbach, Becton, Dickinson and Company.

“BD has been a leader in blood collection technology with a long history of global innovation,” says Eric Olson, chief executive officer of Babson Diagnostics. “The technology they are developing is critical to Babson’s mission of making diagnostic blood testing more convenient and accessible without sacrificing accuracy or cost. Combining this technology with our own will allow us to bring diagnostic blood testing to retail pharmacies, making it easier for people to gain control over and improve their health.”

Babson Diagnostics’ diagnostic blood testing model is designed to allow customers to get physician-ordered or self-ordered diagnostic blood tests at convenient retail pharmacies. In such a setting, customers can avoid long wait times and may benefit from longer hours of operation, lower out-of-pocket costs, and a more pleasant blood collection experience.

“Patient expectations for healthcare are evolving, and patients are demanding care in more convenient settings. With our specimen management innovations, we hope to revolutionize diagnostic testing to meet patient expectations with laboratory-quality tests that can be performed with small blood samples that do not require venipuncture,” says Patrick Kaltenbach, executive vice president and president, life sciences, at BD. “Babson Diagnostics will help bring BD’s advanced capillary blood collection products to emerging healthcare settings, making laboratory-quality diagnostics more accessible to patients in the United States and around the world.”

Babson Diagnostics and BD are undertaking clinical studies on their devices in retail pharmacy settings. BD plans to prepare regulatory submissions to FDA and other global regulatory bodies upon completion of the clinical studies.

For more information, visit BD and Babson Diagnostics.

Featured image: Babson Diagnostics team in development lab. Photo courtesy Babson Diagnostics.