Developing a new leprosy diagnostic test

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Leprosy is an age-old disease that has been causing human suffering for millennia. Although chemotherapeutic and diagnostic advances have been made, there is still an urgent need for a good diagnostic test in order to improve monitoring and early detection. We have identified recombinant protein candidates that we believe are alone better than the current diagnostic standard. By making a peptide library spanning numerous of our top candidates and fusing these into a new fusion protein we will have a candidate that can be easily manufactured and should have better sensitivity than the current field test. With the funding provided in this application Protein Advances Inc. thinks we can make a large step in creating the next generation diagnostic field test for leprosy. Diagnosing leprosy would greatly assist treatment and eradication programs around the world. By commercializing the field test we propose to develop here and utilizing to target leprosy treatment a great impact on global health could be achieved.