Point-of-care diagnostics company LumiraDX has received $14.2 million in grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for ongoing development of its point-of-care molecular tuberculosis (TB) testing system.
Used with the LumiraDx multi-assay platform, the molecular TB test is being developed to provide highly accurate results at a low price at the point of care, enabling clinicians to immediately commence appropriate treatment and patient management to maximise health outcomes and minimise further spread of infection.
According to the World Health Organization’s 2022 Global Tuberculosis Report, the difference in the number of people who were infected with TB and the number of people diagnosed with TB widened in both 2020 and 2021 versus 2019 to over four million each year. To address this crisis, a substantial new supply of molecular TB tests is required. However, existing options are limited by price, test run time, electricity requirements as well as a reliance on a sputum sample type, which can be challenging to collect from many patients.
The LumiraDx molecular TB test is designed to fill these gaps and needs in the TB testing market and significantly increase access to testing. With support from the foundation, the testing system is being developed to provide testing at a lower cost and incorporate a tongue swab sample which makes it easier for a higher percentage of patients to be tested. In addition, the portability of the LumiraDx Platform (pictured), which weighs only 1.1kg, and uses a rechargeable battery, would allow the TB test to be used in decentralised settings across low and middle-income countries where laboratory access is limited. The LumiraDx Platform, is the only point-of-care instrument that supports both molecular and immunoassay technologies.
Ron Zwanziger, LumiraDx CEO commented: “The advancement of our TB molecular test signifies an important step forward in LumiraDx’s mission to increase access to accurate and affordable testing worldwide as well as an important step forward in our molecular testing technology. The support from the Gates Foundation is critical in our development of the TB test and ensuring it reaches communities where access to testing is most challenged. The availability of these immediate results can be game changing.”
More information on LumiraDx is available at www.lumiradx.com.