The coalition includes partners from all over the world, including universities, research centers, and health systems in South Asia, Africa, South America, and the US.
FIND aims to make easy-to-use self-tests available in low- to middle-income countries and has set aside an initial budget of $15 million for the initiative.
FIND said it will announce agreements that will enable the distribution of more than 250 million rapid antigen tests per year to low- and middle-income countries.
The WHO and FIND are supporting NGS-based testing in low-resource settings, while a resistance testing program at New York State's Wadsworth Center has matured.
FIND said the funds were awarded as part of the Access to COVID-19 (ACT) Accelerator Diagnostics Pillar to accelerate testing to help mitigate the pandemic.
The group is aiming to develop a fingerstick test to detect circulating levels of an antigen that is secreted continuously by living schistosomes from various species.
