TB Drug Bioavailability

Once a patient is known to be infected with tuberculosis (TB), the next step is providing anti-TB drugs to treat the disease. However, some TB patients poorly absorb these drugs, leading to inadequate treatment the infection.

Vinnard proposes to develop a low-cost urine test to measure the bioavailability (the amount of the drug that is absorbed) of anti-TB drugs in patients with TB. The proposed test will be point-of-care, safe, accurate, and inexpensive, making it viable in resource-limited settings. Specifically, the project will evaluate urine colorimetry, "a technique used to determine the concentration of colored compounds in a solution by measuring its absorbance of a specific wavelength of light."

• Designed by: Primary Investigator is Christopher Vinnard, Drexel University
• Manufacturer (if different): n/a
• Manufacturer location: Philadelphia, PA, USA

Received grant from Grand Challenges Exploration in Global Health (May 2012).

• Drexel University College of Medicine. "Grand Challenges Exploration Grant" (May 10, 2012). Retrieved on Aug 6, 2014 from http://web.archive.org/web/20150714042716/https://www.drexelmed.edu/Home/AbouttheCollege/NewsAnnouncements/ctl/Details/mid/10350/ItemID/353.aspx.

• DrexelNOW. "Global Health Research Project At Drexel University College of Medicine Receives Grand Challenges Exploration Grant" (May 10, 2012). Retrieved on Aug 6, 2014 from http://drexel.edu/now/news-media/releases/archive/2012/May/Grand%20Challenges%20Exploration%20Grant/.
• Grand Challenges Exploration. "A Diagnostic Test for Poor Anti-TB Drug Bioavailability" (May 2012). Retrieved on Aug 6, 2014 from http://www.grandchallenges.org/Explorations/Pages/GrantsAwarded.aspx?Topic=Global%20health%20solutions&Round=all&Phase=1.