Berkeley Start-upsTurning the Tide of HIV
[Disclaimer: This blog should not be construed as investment advice or solicitation. Scott Adams is a Berkeley alum and active in the Berkeley start-up ecosystem. Assume a pro-Berkeley bias.]
by Tamra Teig
What would you do if you lost both of your parents to HIV/AIDS? If you’re Christopher Ategeka, you dedicate yourself to finding a way to rid the world of HIV.
Atageka co-founded Privail Diagnostics, a medical diagnostics company that has developed a simple, portable blood test that can detect the HIV virus (not antibodies) for the first time. That means an earlier diagnosis, for better treatment outcomes, longer survival rates, and greatly reduced infection rates.
After Atgeka’s devastating personal loss, he joined forces with co-founder Anwaar Al-Zireeni, inventor of the testing device’s patent-pending technology. Together they’re devoted to improving healthcare in third world countries by tackling the infection that causes AIDS, which has claimed the lives of an estimated 39 million people worldwide.
They’re starting in sub-Saharan Africa, which was the source of 70% of the global total of new HIV infections for 2013. (Source: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/statistics/basics.html)
HIV is so devastating because 54% of HIV-positive individuals don’t know they have it; they miss the window of opportunity for the most effective treatment, making them eleven times more likely to die within the first year.
Diagnosis within the first four weeks of infection exponentially increases the treatment and survival rate. But current affordable diagnostics test too late because they detect antibodies, which take the body weeks or months to build up after infection. That’s too late for the most effective treatment, and that’s a long time for those people to unknowingly infect others.
More sensitive methods can detect infection earlier, but they’re expensive and require testing at a medical facility—and that lack of privacy can be a huge deterrent for people to get tested.
Privail’s affordable, at-home testing device, like a diabetes test, needs only one drop of blood, and shows the results in an easy-to-read color bar or digital output like an at-home pregnancy test. Individuals can quickly and privately diagnose themselves early enough to get the most effective treatment, and avoid spreading the disease.
Test kits will be available by the end of 2017 in developing regions such as Africa, and in developed regions such as Europe and North America by the end of 2018, at a price averaging between $5- $10.
When HIV was first diagnosed, it was a death sentence for millions of people. The company believes this simple, affordable test will give many more millions a new lease on life.
“Our testing kits will enable the world to take a critical next step in eradicating HIV in the long-term.” said Al-Zireeni. “Early testing and screening of individuals at high-risk will greatly mitigate the risk of patients unknowingly spreading the disease to others, and can enhance health outcomes of those who are HIV+ by enabling them to seek earlier treatment. If we can stop the spread, we stop the disease.”
NOTE: Co-founder and CEO Anwaar Al-Zireeni holds BS, and a MEng in Bioengineering from Berkeley. Co-founder & CFO, Christopher Ategeka, holds BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering from Berkeley and is a 2014 Forbes Magazine 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneur.
