[afro-nets] Simple, affordable, rapid test to measure CD4 count

[Leela McCullough <leela@healthnet.org>]

Simple, affordable, rapid test to measure CD4 count
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Imperial receives Gates Foundation grant to develop new tests
for managing AIDS treatment
28 November 2005
http://www.imperial.ac.uk/press

Imperial College London has received a 4.9 (US$ 8.6) million
grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a sim-
ple, affordable and rapid test to measure the health of the im-
mune system in HIV/AIDS patients in developing countries.

The 'CD4 Initiative' will develop an easy to use device which
can measure CD4+ T-lymphocytes in HIV+ patients. The CD4 cell
count measures the number of these critical disease-fighting
cells in the blood, a figure which health care workers need in
order to make key clinical decisions in managing HIV disease,
such as when to begin or to switch antiretroviral therapy.

Current technologies for measuring CD4 counts are expensive to
buy and maintain, and require a level of infrastructure and
training which is often not available in many developing coun-
tries. The CD4 Initiative will develop new tests that are more
appropriate for these countries based on specifications devel-
oped with health care workers in hospitals and clinics in Africa
and elsewhere in the developing world.

Professor Stephen Smith, Principal of the Faculty of Medicine at
Imperial College London, said: "Despite the burden of HIV/AIDS
on the developing world, many of the diagnostic tools are just
not accessible there due to the high cost and complexity of use.
This initiative will help develop new, simple, rapid, robust and
affordable tools and help remove one important barrier to the
effective implementation of AIDS care in these countries."

The principal investigator, Dr. Hans George Batz, together with
the Imperial-based team will manage an R&D programme to develop
these much needed diagnostics. Dr. Batz is a former Senior Vice
President of Research and Development at Roche Diagnostics and
has been involved with the development of the initiative for the
past two years. Dr. Batz will be supported by an international
steering committee of experts, a small staff and the Imperial
College's liaison to the project, Dr. Wendy Ewart. The initia-
tive will take a project management approach, common in indus-
try, in which multiple research teams around the world from aca-
demia, private companies and other institutions will work col-
laboratively under the leadership of Dr. Batz and with strict
milestones and timelines to achieve.

The principal investigator, Dr. Hans George Batz, together with
the Imperial-based team will manage an R&D programme to develop
these much needed diagnostics. Dr. Batz is a former Senior Vice
President of Research and Development at Roche Diagnostics and
has been involved with the development of the initiative for the
past two years. Dr. Batz will be supported by an international
steering committee of experts, a small staff and the Imperial
College's liaison to the project, Dr. Wendy Ewart. The initia-
tive will take a project management approach, common in indus-
try, in which multiple research teams around the world from aca-
demia, private companies and other institutions will work col-
laboratively under the leadership of Dr. Batz and with strict
milestones and timelines to achieve.

A Research Funding Agreement for interested test developers and
researchers for the CD4 Initiative will be issued in spring
2006. Inquiries about the project can be made to cd4@icl.ac.uk.

Gregg Gonsalves, from Gay Men's Health Crisis in New York City,
and who was instrumental in the establishment of the initiative,
praised the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Imperial Col-
lege: "The CD4 Initiative is providing a bold new solution to
this key problem in public health by bringing together the know-
how in product development from industry with the creativity of
scientists from all quarters to bring a product to the field
more quickly than could be done otherwise. Healthcare workers
from developing countries have been clamouring for point-of-care
assays for measuring CD4 counts for several years now as manage-
ment of antiretroviral therapy is difficult without these tests.
We are elated that Dr. Batz, Imperial College and the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation are responding to these urgent pleas
for help."

Tony Stephenson
Imperial College London
mailto:at.stephenson@imperial.ac.uk
http://www.imperial.ac.uk/press