The Paul G. Allen Ebola Program recently announced it has awarded three grants totaling $6.9 million to fund the development of new diagnostic tools.

In total, the program awarded seven grants totaling $11 million to address inadequacies in infrastructure, data coordination, and diagnostics.

As part of the funding, Chembio Diagnostics received a $2.1 million grant award to develop a multiplex, antibody-based diagnostic test for several life-threatening fever-inducing illnesses; Becton Dickinson landed $2.8 million to develop a rapid diagnostic for Ebola and other sources of fever; and the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) received $2 million to coordinate feasibility studies of new diagnostic tests in their settings of intended use, as well as provide access to reagents and clinical samples for those studies.

Chembio's 12-month grant will enable the firm to develop a multiplex, point-of-care assay to detect malaria, dengue fever, Ebola virus, Lassa virus, Marburg virus, and chikungunya virus using its antibody-based Dual Path Platform (DPP) technology.

These diseases present with a high-grade fever and misdiagnosis, and mistreatment can lead to high morbidity and mortality. They are often difficult to identify because they have similar symptoms, so quick, accurate diagnostics could greatly help clinicians properly treat patients, Chembio said.