# Rapid Differential Diagnosis of COVID-19 and Common Respiratory Infections

> **NIH NIH R44** · BAEBIES, INC. · 2021 · $278,148

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Rapid Differential Diagnosis of COVID-19 and Common Respiratory Infections
 Fast Track SBIR NOT-AI-20-031
The ongoing novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is spreading rapidly across the globe with over
3.2 million confirmed cases as of April 29, 2020. Most cases of COVID-19 have mild symptoms (fever, cough)
or are asymptomatic, however severe complications including shortness of breath and bilateral pneumonia are
lethal in an estimated 3-5% of confirmed cases. Influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are the most
common viral respiratory diseases and typically present with symptoms similar to those reported for COVID-19.
There is no foreseeable eradication of COVID-19, and as the “flu season” arrives in the fall and winter, there will
be an acute need to perform differential diagnosis of patients in distributed locations (e.g., urgent care, primary
care, pediatric physician offices, retail walk-in clinics, drive through testing sites, etc.). A differential diagnosis in
non-hospital settings will allow triaging of acute cases for hospitalization, provide appropriate targeted therapies,
and decrease community spread.
We outline an innovative, simple-to-use differential diagnostics panel that will simultaneously test for COVID-19,
two influenza A subtypes (H1N1 and H3N2), influenza B, and RSV using nucleic acid based tests. The platform
will be CLIA-waived for use in a distributed care setting and will provide diagnostic results within 10 minutes of
sample collection. The tests will be automated on our small footprint digital microfluidics testing platform, which
is currently CE marked and pending 510(k) clearance from the FDA. Our system will provide unique advantages
of integrated sample processing and will provide rapid results that easily fit within a typical urgent care, primary
or pediatric physician care, or retail walk-in clinic appointment. We are collaborating with the Duke Human
Vaccine Institute, who are currently running COVID-19 tests, on the preclinical aims of this Fast Track project.
Improved COVID-19 diagnostic assays are desperately needed to monitor the spread of the disease, identify
mildly affected individuals and asymptomatic carriers to reduce community spread through appropriate
quarantine, and ensure proper protective measures for critical patients requiring hospitalization. As our company
mission is focused on pediatric care, we are especially interested in identifying newborns, infants, and older
children who may present at pediatric primary care clinics with symptoms indicative of COVID-19, influenza, or
RSV. Our innovative digital microfluidics platform will remove the requirements for tedious manual sample
processing protocols and deliver the results while the patient is waiting. Future iterations of this technology will
expand the respiratory virus test panel to include over a dozen pathogens (i.e. parainfluenza viruses) and add
serology testing to the same test cartridge to provide data on p...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10156099
- **Project number:** 1R44AI157716-01
- **Recipient organization:** BAEBIES, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** VAMSEE K. PAMULA
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $278,148
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-02-11 → 2021-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10156099

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10156099, Rapid Differential Diagnosis of COVID-19 and Common Respiratory Infections (1R44AI157716-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10156099. Licensed CC0.

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