nir-vana innovation network

Heart failure (HF) is known to be a major public health problem and a major cause of mortality and morbidity. It has a prevalence of up to 22% in elderly. Aging of population worldwide will result in a further rise in the HF prevalence by 50% over the next 10-15 years. In general practice and in emergency department, HF is a common clinical syndrome characterized by dyspnea, fatigue, and signs of volume overload, which may include peripheral edema and pulmonary rales. There is no single diagnostic test for HF; therefore, it remains a clinical diagnosis requiring a history, physical examination, and laboratory testing. HF diagnosis often requires chest X-ray or echocardiography which remain expensive and not always available in an emergency set-up. However, appropriate diagnosis and early therapy initiation are important given the poor prognosis and to avoid intensive care medicine admission. Survival is 89 percent at one month from diagnosis, 78 percent at one year, and only 57 percent at five years. Currently, the most frequent laboratory test in Western countries with laboratory access is the determination of brain natriuretic peptides (BNP). It has been demonstrated that diagnosis and therapy guidance using BNP is feasible in the clinical scenario. The use of BNP in the setting of acute dyspnea, a leading hallmark symptom in the emergency department, has been proven. However, natriuretic peptides suffer specificity limitations as biomarkers in this scenario, e.g. a broad “grey zone“ without diagnostic meaning. Once diagnose with HF, patients remain with chronic HF (CHF) for the rest of their lives and are sent back to home with a prescription based on statistical evidences from clinical studies. This situation “one size fit all” may explain why CHF have frequent rehospitalization rates for HF and a poor prognosis. The diabetics patients were in a similar situation with a high morbidity and comorbidities a few decades ago when they could not check their blood level frequently i.e. at home. Therefore, the French SME has developed a rapid test for a newly discovered and patented biomarker that allows for: 1) 10 minutes diagnostic of HF without any equipment to complement or replace BNPs. The new biomarker was shown to be more efficient than BNP or NT-proBNP especially in their “grey zone” of values. 2) A combination of rapid test/connected reader for accurate and remote/home HF follow-up of patients (using plasma or a drop of blood) and a secured WEB based interface solution. The SME seeks: -Distributors for the SME patented products. Indeed, the SME is focused in R&D and mass production because of the automatization of its production in France. -Clinics and hospital willing to purchase and use rapids tests.