NSF has awarded Fyodor Biotechnologies located in Baltimore a SBIR Phase 2 grant for $729,000. The funds will help Fyodor develop a noninvasive multi-disease urine-based diagnostic test for Acute Febrile Illness (AFI) to help diagnosis leading global health diseases from a single urine specimen in patients with a fever.
AFI characterized by the rapid onset of fever is often assumed to be malaria, but AFI is frequently triggered by a wide variety of pathogens which can cause severe and deadly disease, but if detected early and treated immediately can be curable.
More than 300 million reported AFI cases are due to malaria, typhoid, leptospirosis, and dengue infections. The absence of multi-disease differential diagnostic tests, particularly in low resource settings often leads to incorrect, incomplete and/or delayed treatment, prolonged illness, overuse of unnecessary medications, and increased morbidity and mortality.
As Eddy Agbo DVM, PhD, Chairman and CEO of Fyodor reports, “Since we started in 2008, our goal has been to innovate non-invasive rapid diagnostic tests suitable for use in point-of-care settings where the need is greatest.”
The SBIR Phase 2 grant will fund the development of a simple urine dipstick test that can rapidly evaluate groups of symptomatically related febrile diseases and is suitable for use in point-of-care settings especially in rural communities.
For more information, go to www.fyodorbio.com.