Leuko has been awarded a $4.5m grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to advance the development of its non-invasive white blood cell monitoring device, PointCheck.

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase IIB award from the NIH National Cancer Institute (NCI) will help Leuko expedite the development of PointCheck and assist in gathering clinical evidence necessary for the technology's commercialisation.

Leuko's PointCheck is an at-home, non-invasive monitor designed to provide healthcare professionals with a more comprehensive view of patient health remotely.

The device uses light to examine the skin at the fingernail's top and employs advanced algorithms to determine when white blood cell levels become critically low.

This approach to blood cell count monitoring could potentially eliminate the need for traditional blood samples.

The device could facilitate early detection of at-risk patients and prompt preventive treatments to avert infections, potentially reducing hospital admissions and enhancing clinical outcomes.

Leuko co-founder and CEO Carlos Castro-Gonzalez said: “At Leuko, we are committed to delivering on our vision for non-invasive blood testing, which could transform how cancer patients and other immunocompromised populations are managed.

“Thanks to this NIH grant, we will advance to the next stage of clinical development and move closer to making this technology widely available to patients.”

Leuko, which emerged from collaborations between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Madrid M+Vision Consortium, aims to transform patient care by enabling frequent, at-home monitoring.

In 2022, Leuko raised $5m in Series A funding to validate its PointCheck solution for people with cancer.

HTH VC, Nina Capital, IAG Capital Partners, Good Growth Capital and angel investors contributed to the funding.