Advanced malaria test launches at malaria conference

AtomoRapid™ Malaria, which is ideal for both professional and self-test applications, will enable quick and reliable diagnosis of malaria in the field.

Rapid testing away from hospitals and clinics is recognised as an increasingly important weapon in the fight to bring infectious diseases under control in Africa. Figures from The Global Fund, state that of the 655,000 malaria deaths worldwide in 2010, over 90% of these occurred in Africa.

A large scale study in Sudan revealed major user errors when using complicated malaria test kits. Through Collaborative Commercialisation, Atomo has ensured that these common errors are reduced through the integration of blood collection and delivery features into the test cassette.

John Kelly, the CEO and founder of Atomo Diagnostics said, "Malaria is as much of a threat to the well-being of Africans as HIV is, so we wanted to ensure that we were also able to utilise the next-generation AtomoRapid solution to aid in the fight against Malaria."

There is a serious need in Africa for reliable, rapid diagnostic tests that are easy to use in-field, especially in remote settings. A resistance to artemisimin - a key component of drugs used to treat malaria - is on the increase due to 'blanket' treatment programmes if the patient is suspected of having malaria. AtomoRapid Malaria aims to alleviate this issue by providing the healthcare worker with an easy to use and reliable diagnostic test to help make the decision on the course of treatment for the patient.

AtomoRapid Malaria will be manufactured in South Africa with production taking place at a new ISO 13485 certified facility. This makes it not only the world's most user friendly rapid Malaria test, but an African made test that can be exported to the benefit of the rest of the world.

"The Atomo team has been working hard towards making AtomoRapid™ HIV and AtomoRapid™ Malaria available to the market at a competitive price and the response we have received so far has been fantastic - we now look forward to collaborating with leading organisations to change the Rapid testing landscape," says Kelly who will present the AtomoRapid™ Malaria at the 6th MIM Pan-Africa Malaria Conference.

AtomoRapid Malaria will be available to customers in the coming months. Parties can make contact with the company at moc.scitsongaidomota@ofni or www.atomodiagnostics.com, or call +27 (0)11 100 5112 (South Africa and Africa) or +61 (0)2 9089 7604 (rest of world) to register interest.