Durham, N.C. – Baebies has been named a finalist for the 2020 American Association for Clinical Chemistry’s (AACC) Disruptive Technology Award for FINDER®, a near-patient testing platform. As a growth-stage company developing diagnostic products to provide a healthy start for children everywhere, Baebies FINDER tests for diseases from low blood volume (50 µL) with a turn-around time of approximately 15 minutes after sample introduction.
Nearly 10% of all babies born are admitted to the NICU, where they are evaluated using tests intended for adults, requiring large sample volumes. Baebies addresses unmet needs in neonatal diagnostics with panels of tests using low sample volume.
“We are honored to be selected as a finalist for this award in just its third year of existence – and our first year applying,” said Richard West, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Baebies. “Thanks to AACC for moving the conference to a virtual format so that the community can still convene, collaborate and share innovative technologies that are transforming diagnostics and healthcare for all.”
“Our mission is to ensure that every baby gets a healthy start by bringing innovative and cost-effective products to the market. Our first platform SEEKER® is used in many newborn screening laboratories and already is providing millions of chances every year for a healthy start for babies. We developed FINDER around the unique diagnostic testing needs of babies, particularly focusing on maximizing the diagnostic yield from the limited blood volume, and this recognition bodes well for a disruption in neonatal testing,” added Vamsee Pamula, PhD, co-founder and President of Baebies.
The AACC Disruptive Technology Award “recognizes innovative testing solutions that improve patient care through diagnostic performance or access to high quality testing”. Baebies joins ALCEDIAG and Sherlock Biosciences as the only finalists for the 2020 award. As a finalist, Baebies will present their technology on December 14 as part of this year’s virtual AACC Annual Scientific Meeting (December 13-17). A winner will be selected at the event following an evaluation by a team of expert judges.
FINDER received CE Mark in December 2019 as an In Vitro Diagnostic device (IVD) and is commercially available in Europe and other countries that recognize CE Mark. FINDER is not currently available for sale in the United States.
About Baebies
Baebies – guided by the vision that “everyone deserves a healthy start” – develops and commercializes products and services that enable early disease detection and comprehensive diagnosis for children. Baebies’ products include SEEKER®, an FDA-cleared and CE-marked high throughput newborn screening platform, and FINDERTM, a CE-marked low volume pediatric testing platform that is currently not commercially available in the U.S. Our mission is to save lives and make lives better for all children by bringing new technologies, new tests and new hope to parents and healthcare professionals worldwide. To further our mission, Baebies also provides expanded newborn screening services from its CLIA-certified laboratory. Baebies is headquartered in Durham, North Carolina. For more information visit baebies.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.
