Balerion Advisor Doug McAdams sits down with TETmedical founders Alexander Travis, Roy Cohen, and CEO David Fischell to discuss rapid point-of-care diagnostics, and the beachhead market of stroke.
This new class of rapid, point-of-care diagnostics has relevance across healthcare, defense, and space. Over the past decade, the Department of Defense, DARPA, and others have invested heavily in rapid diagnostic capabilities for forward-deployed environments, where critical decisions must be made without access to specialists or advanced imaging.
At the same time, in stroke care inside a regular hospital, there’s been a long-standing gap. If you come to the emergency department with chest pain, there is a rapid lab test, Troponin, to see if you have heart injury confirming or ruling out a heart attack. That equivalent capability does not exist for stroke today.
TETmedical has built a technology that holds promise for forward deployment in defense and space, and at the same time has immediate, real-world market potential in civilian healthcare.
00:00 - 01:20 Welcome & Big Picture FramingDoug opens by framing TETmedical as a rare example of space- and defense-relevant technology that also has immediate civilian healthcare impact. He highlights DoD, DARPA, and government investment in rapid diagnostics and introduces the unmet need in stroke care.
01:20 - 04:10 Origin of the Core Technology (Alex Travis)Alexander Travis explains the scientific origin of the platform, rooted in enzyme tethering and biocatalysis, originally inspired by cellular energy systems. NIH Pioneer Award support and the breakthrough enabling ultra-fast biomarker detection.
04:10 - 05:30 Translating Science into Diagnostics (Roy Cohen)Roy Cohen discusses how the enzymatic platform evolved into a biosensing system, why speed matters, and how stroke became the initial beachhead application.
05:30 - 08:10 Company Formation & Leadership Story (David Fischell)David Fischell shares his background building and scaling multiple medical device companies, FDA experience, and why TETmedical pulled him into founding yet another company.
08:10 - 10:00 The Stroke Problem & “Troponin for the Brain”Overview of stroke misdiagnosis rates, costs, and why modern stroke care lacks a rapid lab equivalent to cardiac troponin. Clear articulation of the clinical gap.
10:00 - 14:30 How the NSE-FAST Test WorksWalkthrough of the nanobot-based assay, neuron-specific enolase (NSE), enzymatic activity detection, and why this approach succeeds where antibody tests failed.
14:30 - 17:30 Live Data & Speed DemonstrationVisualization of luminescence curves, controls vs patient samples, and explanation of how clinically meaningful results can be obtained in under one minute.
17:30 - 20:30 Early Validation: Concussion & Brain InjuryRoy describes early real-world testing including MMA fighters, concussion models, ischemia vs trauma, and rapid biomarker response.
20:30 - 23:30 FDA Pathway & Clinical TrialsDiscussion of FDA de novo pathway, waived consent stroke studies, multi-site enrollment, cost efficiency, and why diagnostics timelines differ from drugs and implants.
23:30 - 26:30 Expansion Opportunities: Cardiac Arrest & Veterinary MedicineUse cases in post-cardiac arrest brain injury assessment and veterinary neurology, including high-value decision support for costly interventions.
26:30 - 29:30 Veterinary Market & Near-Term RevenueDetailed discussion of canine neurological disorders, MRI avoidance, market size, and potential non-FDA revenue pathways.
29:30 - 32:30 Point-of-Care & Forward-Deployed Use CasesAmbulances, athletic sidelines, military medics, and austere environments. Vision for compact readers and portable diagnostics.
32:30 - 35:30 Manufacturing & Cost StructureRobotic manufacturing, strip production economics, scalability, and gross margin potential with sub-$20 unit costs.
35:30 - 38:30 Platform Expansion: Viruses, Cancer, Liver FunctionOverview of additional assays under development including respiratory viruses, sepsis, liver enzymes, and liquid biopsies.
38:30 - 41:00 Development Timeline & MilestonesRoadmap through pivotal trials, FDA approval targets, potential exits, and parallel veterinary commercialization.
41:00 - 43:30 Financing & Investment OpportunitySeed, bridge, and upcoming Series A structure, valuation context, and use of funds.
43:30 - 46:30 Why This Matters for Space & Defense InvestorsDoug contextualizes TETmedical for the Balerion audience: rapid hardware-enabled diagnostics, forward deployment, autonomy, and asymmetric impact.
46:30 Closing ThoughtsFinal reflections on platform extensibility, diagnostic paradigm shifts, and what success looks like over the next 24 months.
