Image: Burnet’s Co-Heads of Global Health Diagnostics Development Ms Mary Garcia and Associate Professor David Anderson
If you’re living in a remote area in a country with an under-resourced health system, you might not get access to the sort of laboratory testing and diagnosis patients receive in developed countries.
That’s why Burnet’s diagnostics department is working hard to develop new tests able to diagnose major public health conditions with the ease, low cost and speed of a pregnancy test.
Burnet’s Co-Heads of Global Health
Diagnostics Development, Associate
Professor David Anderson and Ms
Mary Garcia, oversee the creation
of these tiny innovations which enable
inexpensive same-day
diagnosis.
Many ideas initiate from Burnet
researchers working with vulnerable
communities in resource-constrained
countries.
This story appeared in the Spring edition of IMPACT. Read the entire edition here online.
“It is opportunistic. We’ve taken ideas
from across the Institute, from the fields of
maternal health to HIV and sexual health,”
Associate Professor Anderson said.
Despite the need for such diagnostics,
it’s often difficult to attract funding
for development. Associate Professor
Anderson thanked Burnet donor, the
late Jean Drury, for her generous gifts
in supporting the Global Health
Diagnostics Laboratory.
“Support from donors is really important
because a lot of our work is not suited
to attracting research grants because it’s
early-stage, and focused on a particular,
practical outcome rather than generating
knowledge,” he said.
The Victorian government has also
given a grant of AUD$200,000 over two
years to collaborate on new reagents for
diagnostic tests.
“We now can get a product to market
quickly and cheaply in countries where it’s
needed, especially through Burnet’s spinoff
company, Nanjing BioPoint Diagnostics,”
Associate Professor Anderson said.

Read about some of our life-saving diagnostics tests at different stages of development.
THE BURNET SYPHILIS IgA RAPID ASSAY – saving babies lives
Half a million babies are born with
congenital syphilis each year and most
will die or suffer serious disabilities.
But if pregnant women are diagnosed
during their pregnancy, a single dose
of penicillin can save their babies’ lives.
Testing has until now been a two-stage
process – screening, and then a laboratory
blood test, unfeasible in populations far
from medical care.
“Many women in developing countries
only get one antenatal visit so you
need to make sure you do all you can,”
Associate Professor Anderson said.
In response to this need, Burnet created
the Burnet Syphilis IgA rapid assay,
an inexpensive, highly accurate test
to enable same-day testing, diagnosis
and treatment.
“We’ll be working with our partner
Omega Diagnostics in Scotland to move
into manufacturing with this product,”
he said.

Image: The Burnet Syphilis IgA rapid assay can save babies lives.
THE VL-PLASMA DEVICE – simple, safe testing of HIV viral load
The UNAIDS 90-90-90 target aims at
90 per cent of people with HIV being
diagnosed, 90 per cent of people with
HIV accessing antiretroviral treatment
(ART), and 90 per cent of people on ART
showing virus suppression.
But achieving these targets requires
regular testing, and transporting blood
samples to laboratories is nearly
impossible in many developing countries.
To meet this need, Burnet developed
the VL-Plasma product, a simple device
that collects, separates and dries plasma
from whole blood, enabling regular post
transport to a laboratory.
Burnet student Berhan Haile developed
the test’s strip as the centrepoint of his
PhD, testing it on The Alfred hospital
patients in Australia. Burnet then
collaborated with partners at Axxin Ltd in
Melbourne to develop the test’s cartridge,
and licensed the test to Burnet’s company
in China, Nanjing BioPoint, where it is
now being manufactured.
A clinical trial is underway in Malaysia
and the VL Plasma device is expected
on the market in early 2018.

THE ALT TEST – measuring liver damage easily
In most countries, people with hepatitis
B or C only receive treatment if their liver
disease is shown to be worsening.
But in Africa and Asia, most people with
hepatitis are unaware of their declining
liver function and by the time symptoms
manifest, it’s often too late for treatment.
Burnet, in collaboration with Nanjing
BioPoint, has developed and patented a
point-of-care test for the enzyme alanine
aminotransferase (ALT), an important
indicator of liver function. ALT testing
may also help to identify non-alcoholic
fatty liver disease, linked to rising levels
of obesity.
“We’ve always had to send samples to
a lab to test liver function, but with this
test we can take a finger prick of blood
and get a result in less than 20 minutes,”
Associate Professor Anderson said.
“You could also use it to screen for
liver disease even before you do a
hepatitis test.”
The ALT point-of-care test is expected to
enter manufacturing at Nanjing BioPoint
by the end of 2017.

Image: The Burnet ALT test can diagnose liver function with just a finger prick.
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