CARB-X awards funding for rapid sexually transmitted infections test
CARB-X announced today that it is awarding up to $3.6 million in funding to Novel Microdevices, Inc. of Baltimore to develop a rapid, portable molecular diagnostic test for sexually transmitted bacterial infections.
Novel's rapid point-of-care test, which is in the early stages of development, would be able to diagnose
Neisseria gonorrhoea or
Chlamydia trachomatis infections in 25 minutes from a vaginal swab or urine sample, and detect genetic mutations that indicate resistance to antibiotics. The lightweight, battery-powered device is particularly suited to low-resource healthcare settings.
The device will be eligible for an additional $10.2 million from CARB-X (the Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator) if certain project milestones are met.