Re-positioning of drug-discovery approaches to develop point-of-care diagnostic tests for COVID-19

Key facts

Disease
COVID-19
Known Financial Commitments (USD)
$277,358.24
Funder
CSO Scotland
Principal Investigator
Prof. Andy Porter
Research Location
United Kingdom
Lead Research Institution
University of Aberdeen
Research Priority Alignment
N/A

Research Category
Pathogen: natural history, transmission and diagnostics
Research Subcategory
Diagnostics
Special Interest Tags
N/A
Study Type
Non-Clinical
Clinical Trial Details
Not applicable
Broad Policy Alignment
Pending
Age Group
Unspecified
Vulnerable Population
Unspecified
Occupations of Interest
Unspecified

Abstract

Diagnostic testing for Covid-19 uses gold-standard laboratory testing. However, protocols are complex, need centralised laboratories, take 4-6 hours to complete and require shipment of clinical samples. Tests that can be done in-situ/in the community (known as "point-of-care" (PoC) tests) are urgently needed to speed up clinical decision-making and reduce the workload of test laboratories. In this project, we propose to re-position drug-discovery methods that have already revolutionised cancer therapy to develop new PoC diagnostic tests to deliver pregnancy-like test results in 30 minutes.