ARPA-H awards startup $3 million for home preeclampsia test

Gravidas Diagnostics Inc., a startup under Cedars-Sinai Technology Ventures, was recently awarded $3 million in federal grant money from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health. The ARPA-H award is allocated to research and develop an at-home test for the early detection of preeclampsia.

Preeclampsia is a pregnancy complication that typically occurs after 20 weeks of gestation and is characterized by high blood pressure in an individual who does not have a history of high blood. The condition can also be marked by liver or kidney damage in protein in the urine and swelling.

The condition is a leading cause of pregnancy-related death, contributing to a significant portion of maternal mortality cases across the U.S. More specifically, the CDC estimates that preeclampsia occurs in 2%-8% of all pregnancies in the U.S.

According to the Preeclampsia Foundation, preeclampsia is diagnosed through a variety of tests that assess the condition's symptoms, including blood pressure checks, urine protein levels, weight gain tracking, creatinine tests and uric acid tests.

However, most of these tools to monitor for preeclampsia must be conducted by a licensed healthcare professional, making the diagnosis and management of the disease dependent on access to a provider or healthcare facility.

The gravity of the condition, along with the need for accessible and affordable diagnostic tools, underscores the significant impact that an at-home test could have in this disease area.

"This award is a significant milestone for Gravidas," said Nirdesh K. Gupta, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Gravidas and managing partner of the Cedars-Sinai Intellectual Property Company, in a press release. "It will enable us to develop a rapid, accurate test that can be easily administered at home, reassuring patients and allowing clinicians to identify high-risk pregnancies and proactively provide lifesaving care before the onset of symptoms."

Cedars-Sinai states that the goal is to develop a first-of-its-kind, affordable, home-based test that uses a fingerstick to detect preeclampsia.

Development efforts for this test will build on research conducted by Cedars-Sinai in 2022, which resulted in the FDA approval of a hospital-based blood test that analyzed the ratio between two proteins, serum soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt‐1) and placental growth factor ratio (PlGF). The home fingerstick test will use a colorimetric assay to detect sFlt‐1 in the bloodstream.

"Pregnant women with risk factors and limited access to routine obstetric care will be the largest beneficiaries of this home-based test. This innovative solution has the potential to reduce racial disparities in adverse pregnancy outcomes, particularly among Black women," added Sarah J. Kilpatrick, M.D., Ph.D., a nationally renowned expert in maternal-fetal medicine and chair of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Cedars-Sinai.

Having a tool for the early detection of preeclampsia can help guide pregnancy management and care for higher-risk patients. With an easier, affordable and accessible tool, healthcare providers might be able to manage disease risk and minimize pregnancy-related deaths.

Veronica Salib has covered news related to the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry since 2022.