Hemex Health, Portland, Ore, has launched the Gazelle Diagnostic platform, designed for use at point of need in low-resource areas.
Patti White, Hemex Health.
“We describe Gazelle as ‘the smartphone of diagnostics’ because it integrates powerful consumer electronics, digital storage, and wireless communication into a portable multi-disease platform,” says Patti White, cofounder and chief executive officer of Hemex Health. “Far too little research and development addresses the need for improved diagnostics in low resource, remote settings. Our mission focuses on using new powerful, affordable technologies to give these clinicians the diagnostic tools they need to provide better outcomes.”
Available tests include one for sickle cell disease, which delivers results in 8 minutes and is approved for use in the European Union as well as Ghana and India. A malaria diagnostic delivers results in 1 minute and has the CE mark. Neither are currently FDA approved.
“India has about 120,000 total labs, and Gazelle would be a good fit for about 80,000 of them. These are the labs spread throughout the country that do most of the testing in the Tier 2, 3, 4 cities,” says White. “They provide a lot of the medical testing for the large and growing middle class. The lab owners see Gazelle as an affordable way to increase their test selection with sickle cell disease (versus sending them out to larger labs) and a way to serve their customers and their community with a more accurate test.”
The diagnostic is built around the company’s proprietary microchip electrophoresis technology—a miniaturized but more advanced version of traditional electrophoresis—that both identifies and quantifies many hemoglobin variants.
Hemex is currently developing additional tests for covid-19 and anemia.
For more information, visit Hemex Health.
