Hyris’ molecular diagnostic technology will now enable in-field data to be gathered in real-time from up to 30 distributed locations in Cameroon.
Hyris, an Italian biotech company, is moving into the second phase of pilot testing real-time in-the-field malaria diagnostics that will reduce the time it takes to get results from days or even weeks to a few hours.
By providing real-time data on malaria, the new technology will help optimize disease control campaigns and anticipate epidemics, thus providing better protection for endemic populations.
The team will work in 30 locations in Cameroon over the next three-years period, to test mosquitos insecticide resistance, their infectious status and other parameters.
If successful, the new technology could enhance active surveillance of malaria transmission in remote and underserved countries. There were an estimated 263 million cases and 597 000 malaria deaths worldwide in 2023, the majority of which are in sub-Saharan African among children under age five.
The research team is led by Professor George Dimopoulos of the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in collaboration with Professor Charles Wondji of the Center for Research on Infectious Diseases in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The project is being funded by a grant from the Gates Foundation.
In this phase, the team will deploy the technology in Cameroon’s 30 health districts, in preparation to expand to the country’s remaining 170 districts. The project could also expand to new countries with a the network of laboratories and centers located in remote and underserved areas of the continent.
Hyris summarized the initial phase of the project in a February 2024 news release.
"We believe our system can strengthen and improve the diagnostic capabilities of environmental and health surveillance systems," says Lorenzo Colombo, CTO at Hyris. "We are proud to continue this collaboration with Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute and CRID, with funding support from the Gates Foundation” he concludes.
Contact a Hyris expert to discover how to perform beyond your current genetic testing capability at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
