Evvy, a women’s health startup, has launched an at-home test for urinary tract infection (UTI), the company announced Tuesday.
New York City-based Evvy is a direct-to-consumer company. Its flagship product is an at-home vaginal microbiome test, which checks for bacteria and fungi (or microbes) in people’s vaginas. Its new UTI+ Test is a urine test that leverages polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology to detect 12 uropathogens and seven antibiotic-resistance genes.
Users collect their urine sample and then send it to Evvy’s lab. The company then provides results in one business day, and an Evvy clinician can offer same-day prescription pickup. Since the test determines both the specific pathogen and the resistance markers of the infection, it makes it easier for the provider to identify which medication is likely to work, according to Priyanka Jain, co-founder and CEO of Evvy.
“Everything is done fully at home, with no clinic visit or waiting room required,” she said. “For people dealing with recurrent UTIs, the UTI+ Test also pairs seamlessly with Evvy’s Vaginal Health Test to reveal whether the vaginal microbiome may be contributing to ongoing symptoms.”
The test is currently available in the U.S. at $248, or $218 for those with an Evvy subscription. It is not currently available in Alaska, Hawaii or New York. Its vaginal microbiome test starts at $129.
Evvy launched the UTI test because the “current standard of care for UTIs is fundamentally broken,” Jain declared. UTIs are the most common infection in women in the U.S., but nearly half of women are prescribed an antibiotic that might not work. About one in four women face recurring infections.
“Standard urine cultures often fail patients: they can take days and miss the majority of pathogens. That leads to incorrect antibiotics, delays in care, and a cycle of symptoms that come back again and again. … Because emerging research shows bacteria from the vaginal microbiome can seed the urinary tract — and because 47% of Evvy users with recent UTIs had UTI-related bacteria in their vaginal microbiome — we felt a responsibility to bring a more precise, compassionate, and science-forward solution to UTI care,” Jain said.
She added that for decades, women have been told that UTIs “just happen” or are “bad luck,” but ultimately, what women really need is “better science, better diagnostics and better care.”
This announcement comes after Evvy introduced fertility insights through its vaginal microbiome test in March. In August, a peer-reviewed study on the company also found that Evvy improves the diagnosis and treatment of bacterial vaginosis, with 75.5% of patients reporting symptom relief at four weeks.
There are other vaginal microbiome testing companies as well, including Juno Bio. This company also offers at-home testing and access to one-on-one coaching.
Photo: Carol Yepes, Getty Images
