NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Somalogic said this week that it has received additional funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for the development and validation of tuberculosis biomarker assays based on its Somamer technology.
The funding expands upon an initial grant awarded in 2012 by the foundation to Somalogic for work on assays that detect TB proteins and monitor infection-related changes to host proteins.
With the new funding, Somalogic researchers will evaluate the feasibility of a rapid TB diagnostic based on these assays, as well as investigate the diagnostic's performance in sample types such as serum, plasma, and urine.
The Gates Foundation's support "will help us accelerate the realization of our shared goal of defining a low-cost, simple to use tool that can quickly and accurately diagnose TB in developing countries," Urs Ochsner, head of Somalogic's infectious diseases research group, said in a statement.
Financial details of the supplemental grant were not disclosed.