NEW YORK – French startup AlterDiag announced Wednesday that it has partnered with the Institut Pasteur to develop rapid diagnostic tests for infectious diseases.
Researchers from the Institut Pasteur and AlterDiag will collaborate to develop the tests at the Diagnostic Test Innovation and Development Core Facility, which is set up by the Institut Pasteur. AlterDiag will take responsibility for the industrialization, regulatory restrictions, and commercialization of the assays, it said in a statement.
The partners intend to use single-domain antibodies associated with immunochromatography methods to detect pathogens that are currently not detected by point-of-care rapid tests or to substantially improve the performance of tests that don't meet the expectations of clinicians in order to bring them into routine use.
"An initial list of five pathogens responsible for diseases targeted by the [World Health Organization] has been drawn up, and the first research projects are about to start," Thierry Rose, head of the Diagnostic Test Innovation and Development Core Facility at the Institut Pasteur, said in a statement. The company did not disclose the pathogens.
AlterDiag has raised €2 million in seed funding from venture capital firm Forepont Capital Partners to launch the partnership, a spokesperson said via email.
AlterDiag was founded last year and intends to develop fast, high-performance, easy-to-use, and inexpensive diagnostic tools that can be performed directly in healthcare settings or at home.