On World Cancer Day, Global Good and QuantuMDx Partner to Combat Cervical Cancer

QuantuMDx Group announced an assay co-development and commercialization agreement with The Global Good Fund, managed by Intellectual Ventures, to develop a rapid, low-cost and mobile diagnostic test for the detection of human papillomavirus (HPV), the leading cause of cervical and other genital cancers. The partnership will harness the wide-ranging benefits of QuantuMDx’s technology platform including the speed, accessibility and affordability of its battery-operated portable Q-POC™ diagnostic laboratory along with the global health expertise of Global Good, to make gold standard HPV testing accessible to women worldwide.

Cervical cancer is almost entirely preventable, yet it kills nearly 270,000 women worldwide every year, approximately 85% of whom live in poor countries. It is the second most common cancer affecting women living in low- and middle-income countries and the fourth most common affecting women globally. HPV, the cause in nearly all cases, is a common sexually-transmitted infection that spreads quickly among teenagers and young adults the world over.

Many women in poor countries seeking treatment do not return to health facilities to receive follow up care. A point-of-care HPV test that provides health workers with immediate results, allowing them to screen and treat women during a single visit, is what is needed to combat cervical cancer in poor countries, according to a newly released paper by Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon.

“Placing tools such as this in the hands of health workers provides women in low-income countries with the same access to early detection that has dramatically reduced cervical cancer-related deaths in higher income countries,” said David Bell, Director of Global Health Technologies supporting Global Good, a collaboration between Intellectual Ventures and Bill Gates. “When a mother dies, the tragedy also extends to her children, family and community, with her loss particularly affecting her children’s health and education,” added Bell.

QuantuMDx’s CEO Elaine Warburton OBE said, “Cervical cancer deaths are rare in wealthy countries as a result of routine screening programmes through Pap smears or HPV detection. QuantuMDx is striving to develop novel diagnostic technologies that can support global health equality. Our far-reaching partnership with Global Good truly cuts to the heart of this philosophy by developing and rolling out a low-cost HPV test that is rapid, accurate and intuitive, and therefore highly effective in low-income communities around the world.”

“Our partnership’s HPV test represents the type of innovative healthcare solution that QuantuMDx will continue to deliver in low-income as well as highly developed markets,” said Jonathan O’Halloran, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer at QuantuMDx. “We are excited to work with Global Good to empower frontline health workers with a better tool to combat cervical cancer, just one of the many diagnostic assays we are developing for low- and middle-income countries.”

An image of the QuantuMDx and Global Good teams, may be downloaded here; and an image of QuantuMDx’s Q-POC device, may be downloaded here.

About Global Good

Global Good is a collaboration between Intellectual Ventures and Bill Gates to invent technology that improves life in low- and middle-income countries. With support from a coalition of NGO, government and business partners, we conceive, develop and deploy inventions for the poorest parts of the world. Global Good combines Intellectual Ventures’ unique invention prowess with the expertise of leading humanitarian organizations, forward-looking governments, and commercial partners that share our vision. Together, we invent, develop, and deploy commercially-viable technologies that improve life in developing countries. www.globalgood.com

About QuantuMDx Group

QuantuMDx Group is a multinational technology developer with a focus on delivering diagnostic solutions to address global health inequalities.  The company is headquartered in the United Kingdom, with operations and partners in the United States, Asia, Europe and Africa.

The company’s flagship portable diagnostic laboratory Q-POC, with its superior testing capabilities and affordable price point, aims to bring the power of precision medicine to health professionals globally, enabling immediate detection of antimicrobial resistance and subsequent ‘right first time prescribing.’

QuantuMDx was co-founded by CEO Elaine Warburton, OBE, inventor and CSO Jonathan O’Halloran, and CFO Julian Warburton. Fellow Board members include Chairman Professor Sir John Burn, COO Sam Whitehouse, and President of QuantuMDx USA Paul Fitzpatrick. Professor Sanjeev Krishna chairs the Infectious Disease Advisory Committee.

QuantuMDx is a privately owned company with a strong commercial and humanitarian focus.