Erada Technology Alliance, a South Africa medical technology startup developing the world’s first saliva-based rapid test for malaria has secured €288,000 ($316,566) grant from De Beers Group, an international diamond mining corporation.
The grant from the De Beers Group will support Erada Technology’s Saliva-based Malaria Asymptomatic and Asexual Rapid Test (SMAART) test, known as SALVA!, the world’s first-ever saliva-based rapid diagnostic test for malaria.
SALVA detects a biomarker produced by female Plasmodium falciparum parasites during subclinical infection.
The method was originally developed at Johns Hopkins University with funding and participation from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Maryland Innovation Initiative.
Erada Technology Alliance has exclusively licensed the technology from JHU, and the startup plans to bring the diagnostic tool to market under the brand name SALVA! in partnership with University of Florida’s Dinglasan Malaria Laboratory, US-based oral diagnostic testing company Oasis Diagnostics Corporation, and Fusion Antibodies, a contract research organization based in Northern Ireland.
We're delighted to announce today that we've received a foundation grant from @debeersgroup, which will be vital in the next stage of bringing our saliva-based #malaria detection kit to the world. Thank you for joining the #FightAgainstMalaria! https://t.co/WsZT8M1akQ pic.twitter.com/yj1Jxqvk8C
— Erada_Technology (@Erada_Tech) August 29, 2019
“This generous grant from De Beers Group makes it possible for ERADA to complete much of our vital preparatory work before we conduct field trials and finalisation of commercialization of SALVA!, Erada founder Benji Pretorius said in a statement.
Pretorius: “The introduction of SALVA! is going to play a major part in achieving effective diagnostic testing and surveillance; as well as prevention and treatment of this disease, and therefore will be a major catalyst in meeting the WHO’s 2030 target to reduce malaria incidence and mortality by 90%.
“As someone who contracted malaria, and as a practicing GP myself, I know first-hand that if the parasite had been detected early, I could have been treated and cured before the symptoms of the disease made me unwell. It was precisely this experience in my life which spurred me on to work with my colleague Dr. Richard Schmidt in our small community, Musina, in South Africa, together with a global team of scientists.
“Our vision is to bring to the market as quickly as possible ERADA’s SALVA! diagnostic tool in the belief that it will go on to save literally millions of lives in the future. De Beers’ generous support is the foundation stone upon which we will make this vision a reality.”
Malaria kills an estimated 435,000 people each year worldwide. In 2017, children under the age of 5 in sub-Saharan Africa accounted for approximately 60 percent of global malaria deaths, according to the World Health Organization.
The funding was facilitated by De Beers Group’s Venetia Diamond Mine in Limpopo, located in the Northern province of South Africa close to the border with Zimbabwe and Botswana.
“Through this foundation grant, we are proud to be playing a pivotal early part in the eradication of one the most pervasive and destructive diseases on the planet,” commented Gerrie Nortje, general manager of the Venetia mine.
