Panbio, La Trobe win malaria diagnostic grant

Brisbane diagnostics company Panbio (ASX:PBO) and La Trobe University have received a $117,000 development grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council to develop a simple, rapid, point-of-care diagnostic for malaria.

Assoc Prof Leanne Tilley's malaria research team at La Trobe has already identified antigens that will enable Panbio to develop a POC test capable of determining, within minutes, whether a patient has malaria, and if so, which species.

Four species of Plasmodium cause human malaria. The most virulent, P. falciparum, has developed resistance to common anti-malarial drugs, including chloroquine, through much of its range.

P. falciparum and P.vivax co-occur in some tropical regions of Africa, Asia and South America, and some people are simultaneously infected by both species.

Vivax is less virulent than falciparum, but can also be a killer. Because it infects the liver, as well as the bloodstream, successful treatment requires special drugs that can also eliminate the parasite from the liver.

Tilley said that while a number of diagnostic tests currently on the market can determine whether a patient's fever symptoms are due to malaria, they cannot determine which species is present, or if the patient is co-infected with falciparum and vivax. A diagnostic test that can discriminate between Plasmodium species is needed to ensure patients are treated with the appropriate anti-malarial drugs.

Chloroquine is inexpensive, but parasite resistance has rendered it ineffective in many regions of the world. The World Health Organisation subsidises the cost of alternative drugs, which may be up to 10 times more expensive than chloroquine.

The high cost makes it is important to develop an inexpensive test that can determine which species of the parasite is present. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test can subsequently be used to determine whether the parasite carries chloroquine resistance gene.

Tilley said the diagnostic test being developed by Panbio would discriminate between antigens specific to falciparum and vivax.

Similar to the 'dipstick' test used to confirm pregnancy, it would confirm -- or rule out -- a malaria infection within minutes, and identify the parasite species involved.

The Panbio diagnostic will enable clinicians to perform a malaria test in the surgery. Tilley said point-of-care testing is one of the fastest growing areas of medical diagnostics in the world today.

Panbio has developed about 60 diagnostics, among them those for the Epstein-Barr and West Nile viruses.