The developer of a point-of-care molecular diagnostics solution designed for use in resource-poor areas of the world has been awarded a grant toward its development from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Biological Dynamics said that the grant, whose value was not disclosed, is intended to support development of its portable solution, which will combine results from point-of-care testing with smartphone data. The technology is being developed as an affordable, user-friendly, and sensitive diagnostic diagnostic for use in countries with limited access to sophisticated laboratory testing.
The company said it plans to explore the feasibility of integrating wireless technologies with the aim of simplifying its field-based workflows and reducing dependence on wired power sources into the smartphone-enabled point-of-care diagnostic solution, called OmniVeritaM.
“We believe in the potential of this collaboration to bring much-needed real-time health decision making to underserved populations in low- and middle-income countries,” Raj Krishnan, Ph.D., CEO of Biological Dynamics, said in a statement. “With the sensitivity and scalability of our platform, we can empower healthcare workers by providing actionable, affordable, and timely clinical-grade diagnostic information by putting diagnostics at their fingertips.”
OmniVerita M is based on Biological Dynamics’ Verita isolation platform, which is designed to enable the isolation of circulating biomarkers such as cell-free DNA and exosomes from whole blood, serum, and plasma without the need to pre-process samples.
The company says it is applying the isolation capabilities of Verita™ to develop next-generation lab and point-of-care tests for early detection and treatment response monitoring of cancer and infectious diseases.
The grant is the second one awarded to Biological Dynamics by the Gates Foundation. The first came in November 2018, when the Foundation funded the company’s effort to develop a Verita-based, smartphone-enabled point-of-care tuberculosis assay, also for poorer areas of the world. The value of that grant was also not disclose
