Anchored in work undertaken by one of the firm's principals and another associate while at the Harvard School of Public health, Aldatu Biosciences Inc has developed a diagnostic tool for measuring - at low cost - resistance of HIV patients to antiretroviral drugs. As access to antiretrovirals for treating HIV has increased, there has been a corresponding increase in drug resistance. However, the variety of ARVs available make it possible to prescribe different drugs when resistance is present. Using its novel platform technology, Pan Degenerate Amplification and Adaptation PANDAA, Aldatu is able to take an already low-cost and sensitive diagnostic known as qPCR and enable it for HIV drug resistance genotyping for the first time. The aim is to enable doctors to accurately assess resistance and prescribe appropriate AVRs while avoiding wasted funds on incorrect drug matching.
