A disposable assay for the monitoring of heart failure in the home setting. - Project Summary
NIH SBIR Phase-II, Jan 5, 2017
Application Title: “A disposable assay for the monitoring of heart failure at the point-of-care”
Accel Diagnostics, LLC
Contact PI: Alberto Gandini, Ph.D., MBA
The objective of this proposed SBIR Phase II is to complete the development and optimization of the
pScreen-BNP™ platform for the monitoring of Heart Failure, HF, in home patients. The proposed
activities include integration of a smart phone app, scale up manufacturing capability that adhere to
the FDA Quality Control guidelines, reduce production cost, and complete a clinical validation study in
collaboration with The University of California San Francisco. The pScreen-BNP has several unique
features. It is fully disposable (single use) and does not requires bench-top or hand-held devices,
hence it is easy to use and very affordable; it is also a quantitative and sensitive assay, hence it
provides an accurate and precise quantification of the level of Brain Natriuretic Peptide (BNP) in HF
patients' blood. BNP is a cardiac biomarker elaborated by heart tissue when stressed due to the
onset of heart failure. It is widely known for its specificity and sensitivity in the diagnosis of HF.
Heart Failure remains a leading cause of death and disability in elderly Americans, and places a
significant burden on the healthcare systems with a cost exceeding $40 billion/year. Early diagnosis is
a critical necessity to achieve meaningful change in outcome. pScreen-BNP™ marks in this respect,
a paradigm shift in HF management. It allows, for the first time, HF patients to frequently monitor their
level of heart distress outside of the clinical setting, e.g. in the comfort of their homes, similar to the
more familiar glucose test. Our solution would enables patients and their physicians to respond
before physical symptoms occur, preventing otherwise frequent life threatening events and costly re-
hospitalizations. pScreen-BNP™ is based on a patent-protected technology initially developed at
Carnegie Mellon University, and licensed exclusively Worldwide to Accel Diagnostics.