Tag: Unitaid

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Add Resources - Scaling Up & Sustainability

FIND and Unitaid invest US$ 50 million to speed lifesaving testing and treatment solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic’s frontlines

To strengthen the frontline response against COVID-19 in several low- and middle-income countries, FIND and Unitaid made grants available in November 2021 to enhance testing and treatment. 

The grants aimed to contain the ongoing spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, improve access to diagnostic tests and treatment and build capacity for programmes to test, trace and isolate patients with COVID-19. 

The grants also addressed access inequality to tests and treatment and targeted countries in Africa, Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Western Pacific, where testing capacity was insufficient and life-saving treatments were practically unavailable. 

Another aim of the grants is to generate evidence to strengthen World Health Organization (WHO) policies and guidelines. 

The grants will generate high-quality evidence to inform  WHO  guidelines and national policies addressing the optimal approaches to scaling new testing and treatment solutions.

The importance of combining testing and treating was underscored by the development of new oral antivirals, such as molnupiravir, as these are simple to use and deliver to healthcare settings, and less expensive to produce. Developing this strong link is essential when effective medication becomes available. 

The grants will use existing laboratory and testing networks to offer additional testing options, such as simple, accurate, and affordable antigen-detection rapid diagnostic tests (Ag RDTs) and COVID-19 self-tests. 

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Featured Work - Manufacturing

COVID-19 diagnostics: preserving manufacturing capacity for future pandemics

Manufacturing capacity for diagnostics increased at a rapid rate during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is estimated to have grown by 200% since the onset of the pandemic. Sustaining this expanded capacity over the long term will require coordinated strategies to ensure the progress made in recent years is not lost. 


The authors of this commentary piece, representing the ACT-A Diagnostics Partnership, suggest strategies which could be implemented to preserve manufacturing capacity in the face of future pandemic threats.

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Featured Work - Awareness & Advocacy

FIND and Unitaid invest US$2 million to support advocacy for COVID-19 test-and-treat approaches in low- and middle-income countries

FIND, the global alliance for diagnostics and Unitaid are investing US$2 million in a coordinated advocacy programme spanning 19 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) designed to boost access and uptake of COVID-19 tests and treatments. A total of 21 organizations with a diverse range of healthcare expertise have been selected from more than 300 applicants, following a request for proposals (RFP) and competitive selection process that included assessment by a panel of independent reviewers. Criteria for funding included previous public health advocacy experience and expected impact of test-and-treat advocacy in the targeted region.

Projects range in duration from 6 to 18 months, and will raise awareness of COVID-19 testing and treatment among the public, key opinion leaders, and specific high-risk and vulnerable groups. Partners include (listed alphabetically by country): Mhair Educational, Health and Human Rights Organization (Afghanistan), Family Planning Association of Bangladesh (Bangladesh), IMAG Communication (Burkina Faso), Maison des Associations de lutte contre le Sida (Burkina Faso), Health Poverty Action Cambodia (Cambodia), Caritas Développement Mbujimayi (Democratic Republic of the Congo), TB Alert India (India), Pi Consulting (India), Kenya AIDS NGOs Consortium (Kenya), Health Poverty Action Laos (Laos), Caritas Lesotho (Lesotho), ESTAMOS (Mozambique), REDTRANS (Nicaragua), Shifa Foundation (Pakistan), Media for Deaf Rwanda (Rwanda), South Sudan Community Change Agency (South Sudan), Sikika (Tanzania), Université Mahmoud El Materi (Tunisia), HEPS (Uganda), Zambia Interfaith Working Group (Zambia), Pan-African Treatment Access Movement (Zimbabwe).

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Resource Centre - Media & Press

Global Fund, United States and Unitaid Launch “Test-and-Treat” Programs at Second Global COVID-⁠19 Summit

Why do we not use antibody tests to diagnose COVID-19 infections?

Checking for antibodies is not the most accurate indicator of the presence of a SARS-COV-2 infection.

What are antibody tests?

This article explains the role antibody tests are playing in fighting the pandemic. 

Antibodies neutralize foreign cells the body sees as a threat. Most COVID-19 vaccines trigger the body to produce antibodies against the spike protein in the SARS-COV-2 virus. 

The spike protein is a molecule found on the surface of the virus, and it helps the virus to enter the host cells and spread from there. 

Why can’t we use antibody testing to measure vaccine efficacy?

COVID-19 serology tests were designed early in the pandemic to detect only a few antibodies generated by natural infection, not vaccine-induced immunity.

They detect antibodies produced to fight the protein capsule around the virus and not the spike protein, while most COVID-19 vaccines introduce the body to small amounts of the genetic material in the spike protein to elicit an immune reaction.

Can antibody testing determine if a vaccine worked?

Not precisely. It takes around two weeks for the body to generate antibodies after COVID-19 vaccination, so even tests to detect the “right” antibody could be negative in the first few weeks after vaccination. 

Can antibody tests be wrong?

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recommended that antibody testing not be used to evaluate either immunity levels or protection levels from SARS-COV-2.

Why still do antibody tests?

Data from antibody tests are helpful for surveillance studies. In these studies, large numbers of people in a community are tested. These studies estimate how many people were infected in the past and how fast the virus spreads. 

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Add Resources - Manufacturing Add Resources - Research & Development Featured Work - Awareness & Advocacy

Call to boost access to cheaper rapid diagnostic tests

Key takeaway: RDT agreements boost local manufacturing to supply millions of low-cost, high-quality tests for lower-income nations.

In July 2020 FIND and Unitaid launched a call via the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator Diagnostics Pillar for expressions of interest (EOI) to speed up availability and scale up manufacturing of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for COVID-19.

The EOI was geared towards increasing supply of regulatory approved, fit-for-purpose SARS-CoV-2 Ag RDTs that met WHO criteria of quality, cost and accessibility. This was particularly needed in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Innovators, developers and manufacturers of RDTs and in vitro diagnostics, and LMIC-based diagnostic stakeholders, were invited to submit proposals.

Interventions included:

  • Accelerating late-stage product development and optimization
  • Facilitating technology transfer activities
  • Conducting performance evaluation studies to support regulatory submissions
  • Increasing production capacity
  • Addressing supply chain challenges
  • Strengthening local capacity for development and deployment of new tests within national testing strategies. 

Driving down prices and supporting the use of less invasive specimens to enable faster LMIC uptake were also critical. 

Over 100 applications were received, with 34 selected for review by a panel of external experts. 

A first collaboration, with Premier Medical Corporation in India, was announced in January 2021. By July that year, additional technology transfer agreements were signed with stakeholders in Africa and Latin America.

These included an agreement with DCN Dx to transfer know-how to WAMA Diagnóstica (Brazil), and with Bionote and Mologic to transfer know-how to DIATROPIX of the Institut Pasteur de Dakar (Senegal). 

There is a separate partnership between Viatris (South Africa) and Guangzhou Wondfo Biotech (China).

These agreements will lead to a dramatic increase in local manufacturing, ultimately making more than 250 million low-cost (US$2–2.50) tests available for LMICs.