advertisement
The standard pregnancy tests you know are clunky, plastic devices, and they’ve been that way, without significant innovation, for decades. The innovations that have occurred in the pregnancy test field have primarily functioned to modernize the gadgets, digitizing them with fancy computer screens. While that may make them easier to read, it’s also made a product that was already hard to recycle even more environmentally unfriendly. advertisement
advertisement
“Chances are, if you were born before the 1980s, your mom’s plastic pregnancy test is still somewhere here on earth in a landfill,” says Bethany Edwards, cofounder of Lia Diagnostics, a company committed to “revolutionize reproductive health.” To do that, they’re revamping the outmoded pregnancy test, to make the hormone-detection process more sustainable. Bethany Edwards and Anna Couturier [Photo: courtesy Lia Diagnostics]
On this week’s World Changing Ideas podcast , Edwards and her cofounder, Anna Couturier, discuss the development of their biodegradable, glueless, paper pregnancy test—whose prototype won our World Changing Ideas Award in the Health category in 2018. The finished product was released this March. advertisement
One of the biggest issues that drove them to shake up the old-fashioned model was that the life cycle of the product is so short. It only takes minutes to use a pregnancy test, but at such a long-term environmental cost. They decided to focus on a test that would be disposable and biodegradable, rather than recyclable. That took a lot of research and development, including testing thousands of urine samples. “Anna and I have gotten probably way too much urine on our hands,” Edwards says. “Literally.” Couturier’s baby, now 16 months old, was first detected during their development phase. After thousands of urine samples, origami influences, and flushing tests using a specially raised toilet with clear PVC pipes (to track flushability) in Couturier’s basement, they generated a foldable and flushable pregnancy test. [Photo: courtesy Lia Diagnostics]
But Lia also tackles another considerable factor: privacy. After use, the product goes straight down the toilet instead of in the garbage can, where tests could be exposed to other bathroom users’ prying eyes. That’s empowering, the duo says, for both women who are trying to get pregnant and those who aren’t. For the former, tests can sometimes be overwhelming. “Seeing a bunch of them pile up in the trash is heart-wrenching,” Edwards says. “You don’t necessarily want somebody knowing that you’re taking that many tests.”
advertisement
In the end, Lia created a pregnancy test that’s simple, minimalist, and does exactly what it needs to do at one of the nerviest moments in a woman’s life. “They need to know an answer,” Couturier says. “They don’t need a computer screen, and batteries, and excess plastic, and glass fibers, and all this junk. Yes or no: That’s what you need.”
You can listen and subscribe to World Changing Ideas on  Apple Podcasts ,  Stitcher ,  Spotify ,  Google Podcasts , or wherever you get your podcasts. About the author

‘World Changing Ideas’ podcast: This pregnancy test came back positive for the environment

The company is backed by Dreamit, Robin Hood Ventures and Ben Franklin Technology Partners, and in 2018, confirmed the company had taken $2.6 million in venture capital from these investors plus Raleigh-based  Pink Ceiling . But Lia had been fairly quiet since — no recent public updates or social media posts from the company until this past week, with the official product launch. Now, its website allows the purchase of a two-pack for $13.99 with free shipping within the United States. “Whether you’re eager for that positive, working hard to avoid it, or simply stocking up for the future, Lia is here for you,” Edwards wrote in the announcement email.

Lia Diagnostics has launched its eco-friendly, flushable pregnancy test to consumers

Six Years in the Making, Lia Diagnostics Introduces its Flushable and Discreet Home Pregnancy Test
Six years after the Philadelphia company’s founding, Lia Diagnostics is bringing to market on Thursday what it calls the first “earth-friendly” home pregnancy test. Founded by Bethany Edwards and Anna Couturier, Lia is looking to disrupt a market sector in the U.S. that has about 12 million unique purchasers every year with a product that is both flushable and biodegradable. The global pregnancy testing market was estimated to be worth $1.29 billion in 2020 and reach $1.65 billion by 2025, according to Market Data Forecast. Edwards describes the highly anticipated product as the “first significant innovation in at-home pregnancy tests in more than 30 years.”
While the Food and Drug Administration cleared the Lia pregnancy test for marketing in late 2017, Edwards said the company had to finalize its methods and processes for manufacturing the product for large-scale commercialization before the launch. “There was a lot we had to create from scratch,” she said. Edwards also said identifying a contract manufacturer for the product took longer than anticipated. The identity of the manufacturer is being kept confidential at this time. The Covid-19 outbreak also pushed back the launch date, Edwards said. Read the full article here .

Six Years in the Making, Lia Diagnostics Introduces its Flushable and Discreet Home Pregnancy Test

meetlia.com
On my radio show, Launch Pad , airing on Sirius XM Channel 132, Business Radio Powered by the Wharton School, I talk with entrepreneurs about their startups. Once a month I choose an Elevator Pitch of the Month. This month my selection is Lia Diagnostics , co-founded by Bethany Edwards and Anna Simpson. Listen to our in-depth, half-hour conversation here . As a professor who teaches entrepreneurship, I’m often asked if it can truly be taught. Unsurprisingly, my answer is yes. To back up that assertion, I’d like to share the story of a terrific company that came about because of a school assignment: Lia Diagnostics, co-founded by Bethany Edwards and Anna Simpson. Here’s Bethany’s elevator pitch for Lia: “Lia is the first flushable, 100% biodegradable at-home pregnancy test.” Listen to her give the complete elevator pitch here . Bethany Edwards (l) and Anna Couturier Simpson (r)
MakeChange
Anna and Bethany’s idea for Lia originated during their time in the University of Pennsylvania’s Integrated Product Design (IPD) program which integrates design, engineering, and business education. (Full disclosure: IPD is a program I helped to start.) Anna and Bethany started early work on Lia while in the program, motivated by their insight that there had to be a simpler, easier way for women to conduct private at-home pregnancy tests. The IPD program gave them the opportunity, education, and support to explore the concept and to design an innovative prototype. Before they started work on Lia, neither Anna nor Bethany had a background in health devices or technology. So they had to start from square one: with a great idea and a lot of motivation. Anna and Bethany conducted surveys with hundreds of thousands of women and did a huge amount of detailed market research to develop the product. “At the beginning, we had this formal idea of what a paper pregnancy test used by a woman would be and the basic research to understand how the technology could work,” Anna says. “From there, we had to research the technology and learn. [We took] about a year and a half from that concept phase to having a product with over 99% accuracy.”
“Pregnancy is personal,” Bethany says. “One thing we learned in speaking with hundreds of women is: who hasn’t hidden a pregnancy test? We wanted to provide a test where women would have complete discretion.”
During that same time, the duo met with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to discuss the potential of Lia. The FDA categorizes a pregnancy test as a class-2 device. As Anna told me, “They are low-risk, but not low enough risk they’re unregulated.” To register their device with the agency, they submitted Lia to rounds of reviews. “We benchmarked ourselves against the existing pregnancy tests on all of their performance metrics and we developed a plan for the testing and the data we would show to the FDA. We met with the FDA before we started any of this, to get their approval.”
Founded in 2015, the duo began work on Lia, a first-of-its-kind product. Anna explains the product: “It’s white. It’s made of paper. It’s a bit curvy. It has a wider collection area than a typical pregnancy test and there’s a window, like a traditional pregnancy test, where you can see your results.” It’s paper-thin and houses the test strip within a biodegradable and water-dispersible film window to see through. An added layer of discretion comes from packaging the product in a “white, unbranded, nondescript pouch” which avoids calling any attention to the fact it’s a pregnancy test. One challenge that Lia faced was moving from a prototype to a viable product. “The existing pregnancy tests are bulky, large plastic units that [can be] hard to dispose of properly,” Bethany says. “There’s been no innovation in this category on the form factor side in over 30 years.” Innovation doesn’t come without a price and getting a product just right can consume a fair amount of capital. “We were looking at contract manufacturers to work with, not only the manufacturing side but on the product development side,” Anna says. One of the critical decisions that startups face is whether to spend money on R&D resources or put the cash elsewhere. R&D doesn’t come cheap. Ultimately, Anna and Bethany concluded that they could do more themselves than they initially realized: “We were just dictating work and paying them for it,” Anna says. “We knew this was something we could do ourselves, so Bethany and I took the development work in-house.”
Want a discrete, biodegradable pregnancy test of your own? Lia is working on moving its product into the marketplace. When I asked about distribution channels, Bethany told me: “We plan to sell directly to the retailer. We’re also exploring direct-to-consumer, because we know there’s a real opportunity there.”
“I met Anna and the entire co-founding team [at Penn],” states Bethany. “It [all] started as a thesis project while I was here.” To circle back, entrepreneurship can be taught, and the result is Lia Diagnostics. I’m happy to say a very nice postscript to this interview is the recent announcement that Lia Diagnostics has raised $2.6M to further develop the business. Listen to our entire half-hour conversation for more details on Bethany, Anna, and Lia Diagnostics. For more information about Lia Diagnostics, visit their site at meetlia.com . I am Vice Dean of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. I teach entrepreneurship, innovation, and product design at Penn. My courses are also available to the public via the Coursera on-line platform, and have enrolled more ...

Meet Lia: At-Home Pregnancy Steps Into The 21st Century

Ben Franklin Technology Partners
from Technical.ly Philly | November 13, 2018
Center City’s  Lia Diagnostics , makers of a flushable pregnancy test, just took on $2.6 million in venture capital as it continues to work on bringing the test to the consumer market. CEO and cofounder Bethany Edwards declined to comment on specific terms of the round, but she confirmed that investors included past backers of the startup (like Ben Franklin Technology Partners and Robin Hood Ventures) plus Raleigh-based Pink Ceiling. The North Carolina investment and advisory firm was founded in 2016 by Cindy Eckert, a two-time founder of pharmaceutical companies (most notably “female Viagra” maker Sprout Pharmaceuticals). Read the full article here. Sign up for our newsletter
*

Lia Diagnostics Adds New Investor and $2.6 Million in Venture Capital

Havit Advertising

Motorola

Discovery

Comcast

Raymond James & Associates

Startups focused on providing products and services catering to women's health and wellbeing.

Women's Health & Wellness

These startups aim to provide health treatments, diagnosis tools, and products that do not require a prescription or connection with a health professional to enhance personal wellbeing. This includes supplements, women's health maintenance, OTC medicines, and more.

Beauty & Personal Care

Companies developing medical devices (per the IMDRF's definition of "medical device"). Includes software, lab-developed tests (LDTs), and combination products. *Columns updated as regularly as possible.

Medical Devices

Companies developing or offering products that aid in the assessment, screening, diagnosis, or monitoring of a person's state of health/wellness. Excludes companies focused solely on fitness/sports performance

Health Monitoring & Diagnostics

Health IT 

Unattributed - III

LIA Diagnostics is developing a flushable pregnancy test to help women address the challenges surrounding privacy, usability, and sustainability in current at-home diagnostics.

Name	Shannon Leaf
Work History	Havit Advertising, Motorola, AOL, Discovery, Comcast, and Raymond James & Associates
Title	Chief Operating Officer
Status	Current

Wells Fargo Success Story

3M Success Story

Platform Overview

LIA Diagnostics

Executives

LIA Diagnostics Management Team

1 Team Member

Discover the right solution for your team