Launch of Capitainer® B Vanadate, a blood sampling card that eliminates the risk of inaccurate test results when analyzing PEth.
Stockholm, Sweden, October 12, 2021. Swedish medtech scaleup Capitainer today announced the launch of its proprietary patent pending blood sampling card, Capitainer B Vanadate for accurate analysis of PEth, a key marker for long term alcohol use/abuse.
Dried Blood Spot (DBS) sampling has been proposed as a method to solve the problem of post sampling formation of PEth occurring in traditional venous blood samples. However, the hematocrit effect gives negative impact on the accuracy due to uncertainty of the blood volume in DBS. Capitainer B Vanadate solves both problems in the same device and creates a new better standard.
“The result of a PEth analysis can have legal implications for the person being tested. The demand for a sample and analysis where an accurate and precise result can be guaranteed is therefore very high. Capitainer B Vanadate makes this possible” says Professor Olof Beck, professor in analytical toxicology and pharmacology at the Karolinska Institute, Sweden.
Several laboratories have already evaluated the product and are now implementing Capitainer B Vanadate as the collection device. Capitainer is collaborating with Waters Sweden on an analysis protocol to enable new laboratories to adopt the device in a standardized manner. “PEth is a marker gaining more and more interest among our customers. Waters has the solution and expertise for the analysis, and a solution where collecting the samples are both easier and provide higher quality results will likely strengthen this trend” says Per Ragneborn, Nordic Sales Manager, Waters Sweden
The Capitainer® B Vanadate is built on the Capitainer® qDBS technology with proven high volumetric precision through advance microfluid technology. A blood sample is produced via finger pricking and dried into a quantitative spot that can be transported at ambient temperature. The new product includes Capitainer’s patent pending technology for incorporation of an inhibitor of the PEth forming enzyme PLD. Capitainer B Vanadate eliminates the need for a trained phlebotomist for blood sampling, thereby enabling a more efficient workflow for testing with relatively painless and less invasive blood collection for the patient.
Christopher Aulin, CEO of Capitainer comments:
“This represents a major step forward in the application of our microsampling platform. With Capitainer® B Vanadate I am confident to say that we deliver a product better than today’s standard that can make a real difference in blood alcohol testing and increase confidence in results.”
Contacts
Christopher Aulin, CEO t: +46 708 977 577
email: aulin@capitainer.se
Media
Richard Hayhurst/Ola Bjorkman
Notes to editors
About the alcohol marker PEth
PEth is found in red blood cells and is an abnormal phospholipid that is formed in the presence of ethanol. It is formed via a transphosphatidylation reaction of phospholipase D (PLD). PEth accumulates with frequent alcohol consumption and is therefore a marker for long term alcohol use.
In blood that contains ethanol at sampling, PEth may continue to form after sampling leading to falsely elevated concentrations. A well-known problem also described in venous blood samples. Formation of PEth can be stopped through inhibiting the PLD activity. Sodium metavanadate (NaVO3) is an effective PLD inhibitor that stops formation of PEth.
About Capitainer
Capitainer AB is a Swedish Medtech company founded in 2013 by Professor Olof Beck from the Department of Clinical Pharmacology at the Karolinska Institute and Professors Göran Stemme, Asso. Prof. Niclas Roxhed and PhD Gabriel Lenk from the division of Micro- and Nanosystems at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Sweden and business consultant Peter Bräutigam.
Capitainer is a supplier of intelligent solutions for Dried Blood and Plasma Spot sampling serving several market segments, including but not limited, to Therapeutic Drug Monitoring, Drug Development and Drugs of Abuse and Alcohol testing. By using a combination of paper- and polymer microfluidics the precision and accuracy of metering of capillary blood is on par with that of a standard displacement pipette. Thus, the technology enables more convenient solutions for healthcare sampling and patients’ home sampling ensuring more reliable test results for healthcare and other providers of tests based on blood or plasma.
For more information visit www.capitainer.se
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