Test At Home (TAH), backed by global VC firm Antler, is a medical technology startup, has completed clinical trial on its proprietary 'Lollipop-like' device that enables individuals to self-collect saliva sample for Covid-19 testing with around 95% accuracy based on initial clinical data.

The 'Lollipop-like' swab can be easily and safely used by any age group to self-collect oral fluids samples. The device not only helps stimulate consistent and less viscous oral fluids, the experience is thoughtfully designed to produce very minimal to no aerosols during the collection process.

Saliva testing is emerging as a suitable alternative for NP swab testing as it's less painful, convenient, and can be self-collected with fewer risks to healthcare workers.

However, solutions based on saliva collection have notably been less sensitive and less accurate compared to NP swab for both RT-PCR and rapid antigen testing, primarily due to non-standard, inconsistent protocol for sample collection. Not only the high viscosity mucous content makes processing saliva samples difficult, ‘spitting’ as a collection method has a strong risk of creating aerosol transmission.

TAH aims to simplify medical diagnostics for easy and convenient home-based testing with its proprietary, scientific and innovative technologies.

TAH conducted a clinical trial on 150 subjects (50 Covid positive and 100 Covid negative) of its 'Lollipop-like' swab in India with research collaboration from Datar Cancer Genetics (UK-Germany-India) and National University of Singapore. The results were highly promising with the self-collected 'Lollipop-like' swab showing a 95% accuracy compared to nasal swabs. In addition, 'Lollipop-like' swabs identified 8 more positive cases than nasal swabs.

Based on the clinical trial data, TAH science-medical collaborators noted that the 'Lollipop-like' swab technology will be a game-changer for Covid-19 sample collection and testing, as it makes the accuracy of self-collected saliva testing equivalent to that of nasal swab testing method without the risk to health workers and the inconvenience of deep nasal invasion. The collected samples were noted to be consistent unlike spit saliva samples and noted to work with common storage and transportation mediums (VTMs), requiring the same process and set-up as nasal swabs with no additional step.

TAH is also currently expanding the use of this technology beyond Covid-19 to upper respiratory tract infections and other diseases including TB, STI, food sensitivity, dental health, etc. TAH is now undergoing regulatory clearance and final quality control procedures for the swab deployment in India, EU, Singapore, UK, US, Australia, and others for Covid-19 testing