Monday, August 18, 2014, 1:53pm PDT
Portland-based Sedia Biosciences Corp. has received a grant of nearly $200,000 from the National Institutes of Health to develop an easy-to-use HIV test in developing countries.
Sedia’s rapid HIV test can be done in as little as 20 minutes from less than a single drop of blood. It would enable epidemiologists to estimate HIV incidence rates in the field without relying on lab-based tests, the company said in a news release.
“The Centers for Disease Control understands that a lot of countries don’t have access to labs. They don’t have the infrastructure; that’s particularly true in Africa and parts of Asia,” said Dr. Ronald Mink, Sedia’s president and chief science officer.
Ultimately, the test could provide clinicians with additional disease data to improve patient management by identifying early infections that are at highest risk of transmission.
Elizabeth Hayes
Portland Business Journal