The consultancy has been appointed to work on a number of major new diagnostic projects involving the development of very low cost and more effective tests that are simple and robust enough to be used in challenging locations and closer to patients. The work will primarily benefit detection and screening initiatives for the control and treatment of TB and malaria, diseases that together account for more than two million deaths each year. However, a number of other ‘neglected’ infectious diseases such as sleeping sickness, which have traditionally received little attention, are also expected to benefit from this collaboration.
42T will provide a wide range of product and process development skills: from assessing the feasibility of biological methods, producing prototype devices and proving performance in the real world. Initial work is focused on understanding the needs of existing diagnostic test protocols, with particular consideration for human interaction and how this impacts test performance. Such analysis will help to identify the challenges involved and enable 42T to propose novel tailored solutions.
“42 Technology’s creative approach is helping us solve the complex and interrelated design problems that we see when developing new diagnostics in readiness for private and public sector launch. The consultancy team is working closely with our scientific experts to understand our needs, evaluate concepts and generate innovative practical solutions that work,” said Dr Mark Perkins, Chief Scientific Officer at FIND.
FIND has been working with 42T for almost four years and on a variety of projects including: the development of new ways to more easily and safely transfer precise volumes of infected patient sputum, and a novel technique enabling earlier detection of TB by significantly improving the analytic sensitivity of existing diagnostic tests.
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