Proof of Market and Feasibility Study for Point-of Care SAMBA Respiratory Multiplex Test

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Respiratory infections cause around 4.25 million deaths worldwide every year. In the UK, many patients visit their GP for a suspected flu infection and large numbers are hospitalised. Since a flu infection shares many symtoms with a number of other infections, including the common cold, patients are often treated incorrectly. Currently, there is no simple accurate point-of-care test (POC) that can be used to quickly diagnose infections, and doctors rely on symptoms for diagnosis. The World Health Organisation has listed development of accurate POC tests for respiratory viral infections as a priority. Development of such a test may transform the way doctors assess and treat patients with acute respiratory infections. Rapid diagnosis of the virus causing the respiratory infections would allow the correct treatment to be administered, thereby reducing morbidity and mortality in at-risk groups, leading to better treatment for patients and resource and cost savings for healthcare providers. However, before such as test is developed it is critical that diagnostic manufactureres understand the clinicians requirement for the test. The objective of this project is to 1) generate understanding of the market for a POC test to diagnose respiratory infections by determining the clinical and health enconomic requirements and 2) determine the feasibility of developing the test for use on DRW's CE marked SAMBA platform. DRW will use this information to inform the development of, and reduce the financial risk of, developing an innovative multiplex diagnostic POC test for the diagnosis of respiratory viral infections.