LetsGetChecked, an NYC-startup that develops at-home diagnostic tests, announced Wednesday it closed on a $71 million oversubscribed funding round. The company says it plans to use the money to accelerate the production and supply capacity of its “twin-track” COVID-19 testing kit.
Founded in 2015, LetsGetChecked provides a variety of at-home tests for everything from diabetes and cancer to sexual health and vitamin deficiencies.
Back in March, the company announced the development of a two-part test for the novel coronavirus. Under the supervision of a healthcare professional, patients initially take a blood test that detects the presence of COVID-19-related antibodies in about 15 minutes. Then, a nasal swab is taken and shipped off to a lab to get confirmation of the first test’s results in a matter of days.
The dual test is meant to relieve some of the pressure on the overburdened healthcare system by identifying potential cases and providing additional testing support.
“We have been developing our platform for more than five years and have helped hundreds of thousands of individuals by enabling access to high-quality testing and telehealth services in the home, across many health conditions,” founder and CEO Peter Foley said in a statement. “With the onset of COVID-19, we realigned resources with a view to helping with this global pandemic and are currently delivering tens of thousands of tests per day to critical and frontline healthcare workers.”
The company is currently working on getting its test approved for at-home use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which updated its guidelines to not include at-home testing in March. This is a hurdle other companies have faced in trying to deploy their own COVID-19 tests, forcing them to distribute their kits to healthcare workers exclusively. However, a test developed by Austin startups imaware and Wheel managed to get FDA emergency use approval because it is administered by a trained clinician in the patient’s home. So it is possible.
Should LetsGetChecked’s test get emergency use approval for at-home use, the company says, the kit would only contain the nasal swab portion of the test. Each kit would cost about $129 to cover testing, express return shipping, lab analysis, physician review, nursing support and access to the dedicated mobile app where users can see their results.
“At-home testing has never been more important as consumers around the world look for new and trusted methods for managing health,” Foley said. “We are working hard to deliver COVID-19 testing into the home and hope to have an answer soon.”
In the meantime, the company says it will also be using this most recent funding to grow its operations across the United States and Europe, and strengthen its partnerships with insurers and employers.
