Active Stocks
Thu Mar 28 2024 15:59:33
  1. Tata Steel share price
  2. 155.90 2.00%
  1. ICICI Bank share price
  2. 1,095.75 1.08%
  1. HDFC Bank share price
  2. 1,448.20 0.52%
  1. ITC share price
  2. 428.55 0.13%
  1. Power Grid Corporation Of India share price
  2. 277.05 2.21%
Business News/ News / World/  Researchers seek a fast, finger-prick Ebola test
BackBack

Researchers seek a fast, finger-prick Ebola test

Speedy tests could be essential in West Africa, where it can take days for a sample to travel to a testing laboratory

A researcher of the Atomic Energy Commission checks an Ebola diagnostic test in Marcoule. Photo: ReutersPremium
A researcher of the Atomic Energy Commission checks an Ebola diagnostic test in Marcoule. Photo: Reuters

Searching for a new way to attack Ebola, companies and academic researchers are now racing to develop faster and easier tests for determining whether someone has the disease.

Such tests might require only a few drops of blood rather than a test tube of it, and provide the answer on the spot, without having to send the sample to a laboratory.

The tests could be essential in West Africa, where it can take days for a sample to travel to one of the relatively few testing laboratories, leaving those suspected of having the disease in dangerous limbo.

Rapid tests might also be used to screen travellers at airports, providing a more definitive answer than taking their temperatures.

“There’s a great deal of interest in a technology that can screen large numbers of people from a finger-prick in only a few minutes," said Cary Gunn, chief executive of Genalyte, a company in San Diego that says its approach can do just that. “You can imagine testing an entire plane-load of passengers and screening through them cost-effectively."

The World Health Organization (WHO) is encouraging development of rapid tests, as is the federal government. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is giving emergency authorization for use of qualified Ebola tests.

On 25 October, it gave such a clearance for a one-hour test developed by BioFire Defense, although that test requires more than a few drops of blood and is typically sent to a laboratory. “It would have taken years to get this product approved through the traditional process," said Kirk Ririe, the company’s chief executive.

Companies are hoping to get their tests into the field in Africa in the next few months, but it is not clear how many will be in time to make a difference in the outbreak.

The standard testing technique for Ebola is known as reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, or RT-PCR. It amplifies the genetic material of the virus, allowing even tiny quantities to be detected. It is very accurate if done correctly.

But PCR generally requires a tube of blood and is performed by trained personnel on a sophisticated machine. A test can take two to six hours or more and cost about $100.

BioFire’s FilmArray test, the one authorized for emergency use by the US FDA, is a test that can be done in one hour.

More than 300 hospitals already have one of BioFire’s $39,000 machines, which they have been using to test for other diseases. Now they can test for Ebola on site, though positive findings are supposed to be confirmed by the CDC.

Still, some say that in Africa, reducing testing time by a couple of hours is not that important.

“The bottleneck is not the speed of the technology," but the transport time and lack of testing capacity, said Rob Powell, director of research and development at Primerdesign, a British company. It is developing a PCR test using materials that do not require refrigeration, so that it can get “to more far-flung places", he said.

What would be most valuable in Africa, some health specialists say, is a test that takes a few minutes, as the person awaits results, and costs a few dollars at most.

Various companies and organizations are working to develop such tests, including France’s Atomic Energy Commission, the Institut Pasteur, the German company Senova and US companies Corgenix, NanoBioSym, Nanomix, among others.

©2014/The New York Times

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!

Catch all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
More Less
Published: 06 Nov 2014, 12:18 AM IST
Next Story footLogo
Recommended For You
Switch to the Mint app for fast and personalized news - Get App