NEW YORK – Detact Diagnostics announced Thursday that it has been awarded four grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation totaling approximately $5.9 million. The grants support the further development of the Dutch firm's infrared light-based point-of-care system and assays to detect protein biomarkers of infectious disease.
The new funding follows a $1.4 million, 13-month grant awarded by the foundation in July 2023 for pilot studies to demonstrate the ability of the firm to rapidly diagnose disease using its Visualization by Infrared PEptide Reaction (VIPER) diagnostic technology.
The VIPER technology can be used to detect bacteria, viruses, and fungi directly from samples by detecting the release of a near-infrared fluorescent signal from a peptide when the target pathogenic biomarker is present, the firm said in a statement.
The new awards also support development of a low-cost, near-infrared fluorometer, dubbed DeNiro, for use with in-development VIPER tuberculosis and syphilis assays.
The four new grants support the development of a low-cost, rapid POC system and assays intended for use in low- and middle-income countries, including $2.2 million over 15 months to further develop a test system to detect active syphilis; $1.7 million over 16 months to develop a tuberculosis test; $1.6 million over 14 months to further develop a swab-based test to detect active syphilis; and $296,487 over four months to further develop a blood-based test for active syphilis.
"Our unique VIPER technology platform is simple to use, fast, low cost, sensitive, and portable, making it an ideal platform for deployment in low- and middle-income countries where [infectious diseases] have a huge social and economic impact," Detact CEO Joost Gazendam said.
Founded in 2014 in Groningen, Netherlands, Detact established a lab in Keene, New Hampshire, in 2022 to serve as a diagnostics research and development space.