# Rapid, Point of Care Diagnostic for Malaria, highly sensitive for P. vivax, with species differentiation

> **NIH NIH R44** · HEMEX HEALTH, INC. · 2021 · $827,800

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
While significant progress has been made in reducing malaria prevalence and deaths, malaria
elimination remains an extremely difficult goal. P. falciparum and P. vivax species of malaria
parasites account for ~95% of all human malaria infections. P. falciparum is more virulent and
has a higher incidence of adverse clinical outcomes, but P. vivax is more pervasive and
widespread, often becoming the predominant species in regions moving toward elimination.
These parasites follow a different course of disease and the treatment regimen differs, requiring
an additional drug for P. vivax to eliminate a liver stage which causes disease relapse potentially
years after infection.
Current diagnostics have suboptimal accuracy, especially for P. vivax, as well as delayed
turnaround times. Hemex aims to develop a one-minute, $1, point-of-care diagnostic that has a
limit of detection for P. vivax >5x lower than RDTs. This diagnostic platform will also have the
ability to differentiate between P. falciparum and P. vivax to allow for appropriate treatment. The
proposed project advances our current rapid malaria detection device, which detects the presence
of any malaria parasites in patients with >95% accuracy compared to microscopy. The new
capability will be commercialized into a robust, portable, point-of-care product. It has the potential
to greatly reduce malaria transmission and could substantially contribute towards reduction in
human suffering as well as help to achieve malaria elimination.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10231237
- **Project number:** 5R44AI155116-03
- **Recipient organization:** HEMEX HEALTH, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** PETER GALEN
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $827,800
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-08-06 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10231237

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10231237, Rapid, Point of Care Diagnostic for Malaria, highly sensitive for P. vivax, with species differentiation (5R44AI155116-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10231237. Licensed CC0.

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