Biomagnetics Applies for Gates Foundation Grand Challenge Grant

Biomagnetics Diagnostics, a developer of diagnostic systems and technology for HIV, hepatitis, tuberculosis, and malaria detection, announced it has submitted an application to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for a grant to further develop the Integrate Optical Biosensor Sensor (IOBS) technology it is plans to bring to market.

The topic for the Grand Challenge Grant is Low Cost Diagnostics for Global Priory Health Conditions, which includes both malaria and tuberculosis.

"The availability of low cost diagnostics for malaria and tuberculosis are concerns for not only health care professions, but also for the Gates Foundation. The technology we plan to introduce reduces the cost of traditional malaria testing by up to two-thirds," said Clayton Hardman, CEO of Biomagnetics Diagnostics. "The IOBS platform produces test results measured in only minutes, whereas traditional methodologies often take many days. Additionally, the handheld IOBS platform can be utilized in the field at point of care by relatively untrained personnel. We believe the IOBS platform holds the promise to revolutionize testing for not only malaria, but also for many other diseases including tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. We believe the Gates Foundation had a device such as IOBS in mind when it devised the specifications for the Challenge Grant."

According to the World Health Organization, some 3.2 billion people, or about half the world's population is at risk of malaria transmission in 107 countries and territories. While there are between 350 million and 500 million new cases of malaria each year, there are very few field deployable diagnostic tools available.

Biomagnetics Diagnostics is a medical device and biotechnology company. The company's diagnostic systems, which are based on magnetics, test for any viral or bacterial disease using any body fluid. The company's technology allows laboratories to perform far more tests in the same amount of time it takes to do a single test.

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