SALCheck™ Liver
Saliva-based, point-of-care detection of clinically significant liver fibrosis. Engineered for care settings where at-risk patients are most likely to be seen.
Why SALCheck™ Liver, and why now.
The rapid rise of MASLD, alongside alcohol-related disease, now defines the modern landscape of liver failure.
The disease at scale.
“Over the past 2 decades, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has grown from a relatively unknown disease to the most common cause of chronic liver disease in the world.”
Younossi et al, Hepatology, 2019
~1.3B
Adults globally have MASLD
Liver disease is among the most under-diagnosed chronic conditions in the world. An estimated 1.3 billion adults globally (and 90 million in the United States alone) have metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), the modern term for what was previously known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
9M
Americans have already progressed to MASH
MASH - the more aggressive form with clinically significant fibrosis — the stage at which approved therapies are now indicated and at which early intervention can change long-term outcomes.
2×
Elevated risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes
MASLD is not just a liver issue. People with MASLD face elevated risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, with whole-body consequences that drive substantial healthcare cost.
Why the screening pathway fails today
<1%
of at-risk patients today receive liver assessments
Despite the scale of the disease and the recent emergence of MASH-targeted therapies, real-world data show that fewer than 1% of at-risk patients today receive the assessments that current guidelines recommend. The reasons are structural and will remain so regardless of how good the next therapy is.
First-line screening relies on blood-based scores that require patients to reach primary care, have the correct labs drawn together, and be correctly interpreted by clinicians who may not be trained in liver disease. Each step in this cascade compounds attrition.
The therapeutic inflection
The drugs now exist
Until recently, no FDA-approved therapy existed specifically for MASH. That has changed. Resmetirom received FDA approval in March 2024 as the first MASH-targeted therapy, followed by semaglutide for MASH in August 2025. A deep pipeline of further candidates is in late-stage development.
The drugs now exist. The diagnostic infrastructure to identify the right patients for these therapies has not. This is the gap SALCheck™ Liver is built to close.
What SALCheck™ Liver is.
SALCheck Liver is a saliva-based, multiplex protein assay that measures fibrosis-related salivary biomarkers. A proprietary algorithm combines the biomarker signals into a clear high-risk / low-risk classification, delivered at the point of care in minutes, without phlebotomy.
SALCheck™ Liver - Benchtop
Lateral flow assay paired with a dedicated benchtop reader, designed for clinical environments with standardized workflows.
Intended for risk stratification of patients with significant or advanced liver fibrosis.
Optimized for health systems, specialty clinics, and value-based care pathways.
Lead commercial configuration; first regulatory submission.
SALCheck™ Liver - Mobile
Lateral flow assay designed for decentralized and portable deployment, supported by a mobile digital readout workflow.
Enables non-invasive, repeatable risk stratification in point-of-care, community, and outreach settings.
Built to support scalable screening, longitudinal monitoring, and population-level programs.
Built for where patients actually are
Designed to integrate high-accuracy fibrosis screening into the settings where MASLD patients are most likely to be encountered.
Peer-reviewed validation
SALCheck Liver is built on a salivary biomarker panel validated in peer-reviewed research demonstrating strong correlation with elastography-confirmed fibrosis stage in patients with metabolic liver disease. Calaris’s clinical performance characteristics will be confirmed through forthcoming regulatory submissions.
Where we are now.
Calaris is in active development on SALCheck™ Liver through early 2027, working with a UK-based contract development and manufacturing partner. The development plan progresses through prototype build, analytical validation, and clinical performance studies in advance of regulatory submission.
Get in touch
To discuss SALCheck™ Liver in clinical, partnership, or research contexts, we would be glad to hear from you.