LIMERICK, Pa.—The National Institutes of Health’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute has awarded Rockland Immunochemicals Inc. a Small Business Innovation Research grant worth $224,473 for the development of an antibody-based point-of-care device for diagnosing sickle cell disease (SCD). Early detection can mitigate the risk of life-threatening infections and increase survival, but there are currently no simple tests capable of differentiating patients with the sickle cell trait from sickle cell disease conditions.

 

“Rockland’s antibody technology platform will help to overcome these barriers tremendously. We will create novel hemoglobin isoform-specific antibodies and configure a lateral flow point-of-care assay,” said Dr. Carl Ascoli, Rockland’s chief science officer. “As a result of this project, the antibody-based lateral flow point-of-care device will allow rapid and inexpensive diagnosis of sickle cell disease in infants and young children in industrialized and low-income and low-resource settings.”