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Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign-up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email. In this editorial piece, Dr. Jenniffer Mabuka of the African Academy of Sciences makes a case that Africa needs to develop a research base to help detect and monitor a range of pathogens and better address disease outbreaks on the continent. Mabuka explains, “A thorough base of research would result in tools that will speed up detection and containment of future outbreaks, generate the knowledge base to help predict future outbreaks of known origins, and help accelerate the development of diagnostics, efficacious drugs and vaccines.” She notes that investing in research and development must be a priority for African governments as recent outbreaks serve as a reminder that equatorial Africa is a hotbed for emerging and re-emerging diseases. A group of scientists has developed a technique to modify a strain of rice to produce HIV-neutralizing proteins. While further study is needed, the researchers believe this technique could offer promise as a low-cost approach for low- and middle-income countries to manufacture topical microbicides, which are compounds that can be applied to the vagina or rectum to reduce the risk of HIV infection. Given the research team was able to alter the rice to simultaneously produce three key proteins, a combination necessary to produce a microbicide with broad coverage against multiple HIV strains, the plant’s seed extract could be used directly as a microbicide without the need for additional costly processing. Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have achieved an important step forward in developing a broadly effective antibody treatment against the three major Ebola strains. The research team reported the isolation of two potent monoclonal antibodies from human survivors of the Ebola virus. In cell culture studies, these antibodies efficiently neutralized the Zaire, Sudan, and Bundibugyo strains of the virus. Further study is required to determine if these antibodies can be combined into an injectable for use in people at high risk of being infected with the Ebola virus. The hope is that the injected antibody “cocktail” would seek out and destroy the virus before it has the chance to wreak havoc on the human body.

Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign-up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email. In this regular feature on Breakthroughs, we highlight some of the most interesting reads in global health research from the past week. The latest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo was officially declared over last Tuesday, following a 42-day observation period since the last new case was reported. Health experts credit the use of an experimental vaccine and a speedy and effective response by both the government and the World Health Organization as key factors in controlling this outbreak. Two clinical studies revealed that GlaxoSmithKline’s two-drug treatment for HIV, a combination of dolutegravir and lamivudine, also known as 3TC, is as effective as the standard triple therapy. Crucially, the studies showed that the efficacy of the treatment was consistent whether individuals had higher or lower levels of HIV in their blood, dispelling notions that the two-drug regimen might not work as well in people with more virus. Questions remain regarding the durability of treatment and potential drug resistance, given that the data only spans a 48-week period. The two-drug combination is slated for regulatory submission later this year. The US Food and Drug Administration approved the first new treatment for Plasmodium vivax malaria in 60 years. The drug, tafenoquine, is a single-dose treatment developed by GlaxoSmithKline and Medicines for Malaria Venture. P. vivax malaria causes around 8.5 million infections every year in Asia, Latin America, and parts of Africa. The disease is tricky to combat because the P. vivax parasite can lie dormant in the liver, where it reactivates, and can cause new episodes of malaria weeks, months, and years after the initial infection. In a study of 522 patients, 60 percent saw no relapse six months after taking the drug. Tafenoquine has been submitted for approval to the Australian regulatory authority and is slated to be submitted for approval in malaria endemic countries.        

For many mothers and babies around the world, the first 48 hours after birth are the most dangerous of their lives. For eight years, Saving Lives at Birth—spearheaded by USAID—has challenged problem solvers worldwide to create innovative solutions to make birth safer and save lives. Here are ten incredible innovations from this initiative: Many newborns struggle to breathe. While in developed countries, doctors use CPAP machines, these devices are too costly for most health facilities in low-resource nations. Fortunately, innovators at Rice University have developed a low-cost solution—the Pumani bCPAP. Delivering comparable treatment at 1/15th the cost, the Pumani has tripled the survival rate of babies with respiratory distress.   Blood pressure (BP) disorders like pre-eclampsia are a leading cause of maternal death. BP cuffs have been used to monitor BP since the early 1900s, but they can be hard to maintain and read by less-skilled health workers. A startup named Biospectal is reinventing this approach. It has developed the OptiBP, a cuff-less smartphone app that allows instant, accurate BP monitoring through a fingertip.   Affecting 60% of newborns, jaundice can cause brain damage or death if left untreated. In low-resource nations, doctors often don’t have access to costly lab equipment needed to diagnose the disorder. That’s where the BiliSpec comes in. Developed by Rice University, this handheld, battery-powered device can diagnose jaundice within two minutes using just a $0.05 paper strip and a drop of blood.   Even a small dip in a newborn’s temperature can put her life at risk. Continuous temperature monitoring is key to detecting issues early, but in overcrowded health facilitates, it can be hours between readings. To address this gap, Rice University developed the Neonatal Temperature Monitor—a simple, affordable tool to continuously monitor and display infant temperature, alerting staff of problems.   Malaria during pregnancy is dangerous for both mothers and their unborn babies. Researchers are studying whether a promising new malaria vaccine candidate—Sanaria’s PfSPZ vaccine—could offer a solution. The research team will test the vaccine in pregnant women and monitor the mothers and newborns post-birth. If successful, the project could radically change malaria management in pregnant women.   Poor water and sanitation in low-resource health facilities can expose moms and babies to infection at birth. Chlorine is a commonly used disinfectant, but supply chain issues make it hard for facilities to ensure a steady supply. PATH and MSR Global Health created an innovative, low-cost tool—the SafiStation Chlorine Generator—to produce chlorine on site using just water, salt, and electricity.     While stillbirths are common in poor regions, increasing evidence suggests that non-breathing newborns are often misidentified as stillborn when they have heart rates (HR) and could survive with resuscitation. To address this gap in care, researchers developed the NeoBeat, a low-cost, belt-like device that takes seconds to put on a baby and provides a continuous digital display of newborn HR.   Jaundice is common among newborns. Fortunately, if found and treated early it is also curable. To facilitate diagnosis and treatment in low-resource areas, innovators developed the Bilikit, a comprehensive package of low-cost tools to manage jaundice. The kit includes the Bilistick, a rapid, hand-held, portable diagnostic device, and the Bili-Hut, a portable, high-intensity phototherapy device.   Blood donation shortages in Africa can leave health workers with few options if a woman is hemorrhaging blood during childbirth. Attendants often resort to using a soup ladle and gauze to try to salvage and recycle a patient’s own blood. The Hemafuse pump by Sisu Global Health is a cost-effective, hygienic alternative. This tool sucks up blood, filters it, and transfers it to a bag for reuse.   Over 100,000 women die annually from postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) or excessive bleeding. PPH is treatable, but the tools widely used to control dosage are too costly or infrastructure intensive for low-income nations. That’s a problem Shift Labs hopes to solve with DripAssist—a low-cost, battery-powered tool that constantly monitors medicine flow via an IV drip, sounding an alarm if it fluctuates.   View as a video below: Photo credits: PATH/Doune Porter; Pumani bCPAP: 3rd Stone Design, GHTC; OptiBP: GHTC: Bilispec: Rice University, 3rd Stone Design; Neonatal Temperature Monitor: GHTC; PfSPZ vaccine: Leiden University Medical Center, GHTC; Safistation: PATH/Adam Drolet; Neobeat: Laerdal; Bilikit: GHTC, Bilimetrix srl Trieste, USAID, Little Sparrow Technologies; Hemafuse: Sisu Global Health; DripAssit: Medgadget, GHTC