NanoPin Technologies develops TB+HIV test to address global epidemic
Novel approach designed to enable rapid treatment decisions
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, UNITED STATES, January 17, 2024 -- NanoPin Technologies, Inc. offers a new rapid test to detect both human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and tuberculosis (TB) from the same small draw of blood.
TB, the leading cause of death from infectious disease worldwide, is particularly prominent in immune-suppressed populations, including individuals with HIV infections who are more likely to contract and die from TB. In 2021, 10.6 million people were diagnosed with TB and there were 1.6 million TB-related deaths, including 187,000 deaths among people living with HIV infections.
Following the World Health Organization’s (WHO) guidance that calls for integration of TB and HIV testing to improve patient outcomes, NanoPin Technologies has refined a dual HIV and TB testing approach reported by researchers at Tulane University School of Medicine and NanoPin Technologies. NanoPin offers Research Use Only (RUO) testing using this multiplex assay. Laboratory Developed Test (LDT) and In-Vitro Diagnostic IVD kit product development programs are underway.
"Simultaneous quantitative testing for both HIV and TB can help providers monitor HIV patients for TB in case the therapy administered for one pathogen leads to surging levels of the other," says Thomas Tombler, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, NanoPin Technologies. "There are plenty of good HIV diagnostics on the market, but there is a growing unmet need for highly accurate rapid testing at the intersection of these two infectious diseases. NanoPin’s species-specific peptide detection approach and proprietary technology allow doctors to track the levels of both HIV and TB in a patient as they undergo treatment, so they can intervene quickly if a certain treatment isn’t working."
Tony Hu, co-founder of NanoPin and the Weatherhead Presidential Chair in Biotechnology Innovation and Director of the Center for Cellular and Molecular Diagnostics at Tulane University School of Medicine also indicates that this approach is valuable because "other TB tests require sputum, a mixture of saliva and mucus, which may not be available when patients have suppressed immune systems and are in urgent need of treatment."
About NanoPin Technologies, Inc.
At NanoPin Technologies, our mission is to advance infectious disease detection and improve patient care using a novel diagnostic platform that produces rapid and quantified results from patient blood samples. This versatile platform addresses critical needs for current infectious disease epidemics, including the ongoing tuberculosis and HIV epidemics, and can be adapted to diagnose pathogens that cause future contagions.
References:
WHO Global tuberculosis report 2020 and 2022
CDC Recommendations for HIV screening in TB clinics 2023.
Li et al, Sensitive Blood-Based Detection of HIV-1 and Mycobacterium tuberculosis Peptides for Disease Diagnosis by Immuno-Affinity Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry: A Method Development and Proof-of-Concept Study. Clinical Chemistry, Dec 2023.
Source: EIN Presswire