FIND Receives Grant for Diagnostics from Dutch Government

The Dutch Government has approved the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics' (FIND, Geneva, Switzerland) application for a grant to develop improved diagnostics for tuberculosis (TB), the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and malaria.

The grant amounts to U.S.$10.1 million over a period of four years, beginning November 2006. The grant is to finance gaps in existing plans and programs to develop simple, accurate, and rapid molecular tests for TB, HIV, and malaria.

The point-of-care products to be developed by FIND will include chemical sensor arrays for the detection of volatile compounds in the sputum of TB infected individuals, an improved lateral-flow assay to diagnose malaria in a finger-prick blood sample, and a lateral-flow assay to diagnose TB by detecting Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTb) antigens in urine.

FIND also plans to develop a simple nucleic acid amplification test for the detection of TB in urine, a simple amplification test for the detection of malaria from whole blood, and a hands-free automated nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) for HIV viral load in blood at first-referral laboratory level.

In the first quarter of 2007 FIND plans to launch a project on laboratory preparedness for the introduction of new technologies in Uganda, with the aim to strengthen laboratory diagnostic services in that country.




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