Medical device for chemotherapy patients wins US start-up challenge

Three best friends who have developed the first handheld, portable blood cell counting device have won a Start-up Challenge at the University of Pennsylvania.

Divyansh Agarwal, Prateek Agarwal and Daniel Zhang founded the start-up Sanguis in an effort to save lives. The trio have developed a medical device that measures neutrophil levels—the body’s primary infection fighting cells. When neutrophil levels decrease, the body becomes unable to fight off infections effectively.

Sanguis lets patients test their neutrophil levels at home, giving them a chance to contact their doctor if something is amiss. The device is intended to let cancer patients monitor their health during chemotherapy to help detect life-threatening conditions. Sanguis aims to reduce the number of deaths that occur from infections that are a result of chemotherapy leaving the body unable to defend itself.

The company won the Start-up Showcase at the University of Pennsylvania after pitching their device to a live audience and a panel of judges.

Eight winners shared a combined prize of $135,000 to help them launch their start-up.

Sanguis won the Perlman Grand Prize and were awarded $30,000 plus $15,000 in legal, accounting and strategy services.