Ricovr Healthcare Awarded NIH Grant to Develop Point-of-Care Test for Pre-Eclampsia Diagnosis

Ricovr Healthcare awarded a Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)

PRINCETON, NJ, UNITED STATES, October 8, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Ricovr Healthcare is proud to announce that it has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue development of a point-of-care test to improve pre-eclampsia diagnosis using their revolutionary platform technology.

Pre-eclampsia is a serious pregnancy complication that significantly contributes to maternal morbidity and mortality, affecting up to 8% of pregnancies in the United States. Further, pre-eclampsia disproportionately affects minority mothers. Researchers have identified biomarkers to aid in the early detection of pre-eclampsia, but access to diagnostics using these biomarkers is not yet routinely available, particularly in underserved communities. This NIH grant will support Ricovr Healthcare’s efforts in creating an accurate, scalable, and accessible diagnostic test for pre-eclampsia using its plasmonic fiber-optic biosensing platform.

Dr. Joseph Seimetz, Director of Research and Development at Ricovr Healthcare, commented, “Our team is excited to have received this SBIR grant from NHLBI to further our mission of developing a transformative point-of-care test for pre-eclampsia. We aim to create an accurate, low-cost test that will greatly expand access to testing, which we hope will improve health outcomes for mothers.”

Dr. Himanshu Bhatia, CEO and founder of Ricovr Healthcare, said, “Ricovr Healthcare’s goal is to transform point-of-care diagnostics. This support from NIH will accelerate our journey toward making high-quality, accessible diagnostic tools available to all, especially in maternal health, where timely diagnosis can be lifesaving.”

The test under development by Ricovr Healthcare utilizes its plasmonic fiber-optic biosensing technology which can measure biomarkers at very low concentrations in biologic samples such as saliva, blood, and urine using a handheld device. In mothers that develop pre-eclampsia, the level of a biomarker called placental growth factor (PlGF) decreases below the normal range. The grant award from the NIH to Ricovr Healthcare will accelerate development of a low-cost, point-of-care diagnostic for pre-eclampsia to improve maternal health outcomes. This same platform technology is being developed for other rapid, point-of-care tests for drug screening and infectious diseases.

Research reported in this press release was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health under award number 1R43HL172410. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

For more information about Ricovr Healthcare, please visit www.ricovr.com.


About Ricovr Healthcare:

Ricovr Healthcare is a leading innovator in point-of-care diagnostics, committed to enhancing public health and safety through its plasmonic optical detection technology. The Company's product pipeline includes rapid point-of-care tests for drug screening, maternal health, and infectious diseases. The Company boasts an excellent management team of scientists and engineers, a distinguished advisory board, and excellent academic and industry partners around the globe all committed to improving diagnostics.

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