Global Health
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
HIV is a retrovirus that can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic infections. HIV primarily infects vital cells in the human immune system such as helper T cells (specifically CD4+ T cells). The HIV infection leads to a decline in the CD4 cell population causing loss of immunity and allowing the body to become more susceptible to opportunistic infections.At the end of 2007, the World Health Organization estimated there were 33 million people infected with HIV and that AIDS had killed more than 25 million people, many of whom are in developing and resource scarce countries. There exists a tremendous opportunity to provide an effective and economical solution to central laboratory flow cytometry methods. LabNow has focused its first product commercialization efforts in the area of HIV/AIDS staging and monitoring applications. The HIV/AIDS staging and monitoring market is a large and growing market as it is critical for staging, monitoring and treating HIV/AIDS.
LabNow has developed a point-of-care CD4 system for use in staging and monitoring of HIV/AIDS patients throughout the world. The system consists of a small, portable, battery operable analyzer and CD4 specific biochips which can perform a CD4, CD4%, and Total Lymphocyte analysis in about 15 minutes using a drop of whole blood that requires no sample preparation.
For more information about CD4 testing and our revolutionary, portable CD4 system, visit our page on HIV/AIDS.
Tuberculosis (TB)
Tuberculosis is a common and deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacteria. According to the World Health Organization, over one-third of the world's population has been exposed to the TB bacterium, and new infections occur at a rate of one per second causing 8.9 million new cases and 1.6 million deaths in 2004. A resurgence of TB has occurred in developing countries often associated with the rise in HIV infections. In 1993, the WHO established the Stop TB Partnership, a global plan that aims to save 14 million lives between 2006 and 2015.Malaria
Malaria is a vector-borne infectious disease caused by protozoan parasites. It is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions. According to the WHO, each year, it causes disease in approximately 500 million people and kills more than one million people, the majority of whom are young children in sub-Saharan Africa.LabNow is collaborating with the Department of Defense to enable the use of the LabNow platform to perform studies of Malaria in whole blood samples.
