RapiGEN BIOCREDIT Malaria Ag RDTs WHO Prequalification Study

Clinical Performance of RapiGEN BIOCREDIT Malaria Ag RDTs for Detection of Plasmodium Infections in Patients With Symptoms Suggestive of Malaria

Since their introduction in the late 90's, rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) have markedly improved our ability to control malaria; yet they have inherent limitations which include low sensitivity in Plasmodium vivax detection and inability to detect hrp2/3 gene deleted Plasmodium falciparum parasites. In addition, the spread of P. falciparum parasites lacking hrp2 gene jeopardizes the long-term use of P. falciparum-specific HRP2-based RDTs.

A partnership between RapiGEN, FIND, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) is addressing these limitations by developing five novel malaria RDTs with improved pLDH and HRP2 detection.

RapiGEN has also developed three novel malaria RDTs - BIOCREDIT Malaria Ag Pf/Pv (pLDH/pLDH), BIOCREDIT Malaria Ag Pf (pLDH/HRP2) and BIOCREDIT Malaria Ag Pf (pLDH) - to address these drawbacks. The BIOCREDIT Malaria Ag Pf/Pv (pLDH/pLDH) is a combo test that detects P. falciparum and P. vivax on a single device. BIOCREDIT Malaria Ag Pf (pLDH/HRP2) targets both PfLDH and HRP2 antigens in P. falciparum; and BIOCREDIT Malaria Ag Pf (pLDH) has improved detection of pLDH in P. falciparum.

In countries with circulation of hrp2/3 deleted P. falciparum malaria parasites or high P. vivax burden, these improved RDTs may be invaluable in malaria elimination.

This study is a prospective and retrospective evaluation of RapiGEN's BIOCREDIT Malaria Ag RDTs in malaria-endemic countries to assess their clinical performance for detection of malaria. The purpose of this study is to provide a high level outline of the study design and conduct to support the collation of a data package for WHO Pre-Qualification proposed study.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Malaria; Diagnoses Disease; RDT
• Intervention / Treatment: Diagnostic test: Rapid diagnostic test

Detailed Description

Malaria continues to create a major health burden in the tropics especially in Africa. Introduction of Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) has dramatically improved the outcomes of morbidity and mortality of malaria cases. Introduction of RDTs as well dramatically influenced cases detection hence treatment. The situation in Sudan is not different from the general picture in all Africa and witness great reduction of deaths from malaria since the introduction of ACT in 2005 (1). The national protocol depends now on Giemsa stained slides microcopy or certified RDTs for diagnosis and ACT as first and second line of treatment (2).

Recommendation by World Health Organization (WHO) on parasitological confirmation of malaria cases by microscopy or rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) before treatment increased the use and availability of RDTs worldwide (3).

Rapid diagnostic tests, since their introduction in the late 90's, have dramatically improved our ability to control malaria. Most RDTs are based on histidine-rich protein 2 (PfHRP2) or lactate dehydrogenase (pLDH), which are present in Plasmodium falciparum only and all human-infecting Plasmodium species respectively (4). However, the gradual spread of hrp2/hrp3-deleted mutants in several endemic countries in South America, Asia and Africa exerts a substantial potential impact on the utility of HRP2-based RDTs for case management in these settings.

Plasmodium lactate dehydrogenase (pLDH), on the other hand, appears as a good alternative to HRP2 as it is an essential protein expressed by all human-infecting Plasmodium species; however, pLDH-based RDTs were shown to perform poorly at low parasitaemia, which is common among patients infected with P. vivax, P. malariae and P. ovale species as well as in asymptomatic infections. Therefore, it is less preferred in endemic-countries. In these settings, malaria microscopy holds its reign as the standard of reference thanks to its low direct cost and ability to detect, quantify, and differentiate malaria parasites. However, it is also labour-intensive, time-consuming and expertise-demanding.

With the aim of addressing these limitations, RapiGEN has developed novel malaria RDTs, in partnership with FIND and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). RapiGEN developed BIOCREDIT Malaria Ag Pf/Pv (pLDH/pLDH), BIOCREDIT Malaria Ag Pf (pLDH/HRP2) and BIOCREDIT Malaria Ag Pf.

These may provide added value compared to currently available malaria RDTs, especially in settings where current tests prove to be insufficient due to hrp2 deletion or high burden of P. vivax malaria.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 674

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Indonesia
  • Jakarta, Indonesia, 10430
    • Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology
• Sudan
  • Khartoum, Sudan
    • Institute of Endemic Diseases, Medical Campus

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 5 years and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients with symptoms suggestive of malaria seeking clinical care in health facilities. All patients will be assessed for eligibility of enrollment and those who full filled the criteria will be recruited in the study after signing an informed consent.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Aged 5 years old or older
• Presenting at the study site with fever or a history of fever during the preceding 48 hours
• Freely agreeing to participate by providing informed consent (and assent, if applicable)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Presence of symptoms and signs of severe illness and/or central nervous system infections as defined by WHO guidelines

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Point estimates of BIOCREDIT Malaria Ag Pf	Point estimates of diagnostic accuracy characteristics (sensitivity, specificity, NPV, PPV) with 95% confidence intervals for BIOCREDIT Malaria Ag Pf (pLDH/HRP2) and BIOCREDIT Malaria Ag Pf (pLDH) using the reference test (nPCR) as standard of truth for the detection of P. falciparum infections in patients with symptoms suggestive of malaria	2 months
Point estimate of BIOCREDIT Malaria Ag Pf/Pv (pLDH/pLDH)	Point estimates of diagnostic accuracy characteristics (sensitivity, specificity, NPV, PPV) with 95% confidence intervals for BIOCREDIT Malaria Ag Pf/Pv (pLDH/pLDH) using the reference test as standard of truth for the detection of P. falciparum and P.vivax infections in patients with symptoms suggestive of malaria	2 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Point estimates of comparator tests	Point estimates of diagnostic accuracy characteristics (sensitivity, specificity, NPV, PPV) with 95% confidence intervals of comparator tests using the reference test as standard of truth for the detection of P. falciparum and, P.vivax infections in patients with symptoms suggestive of malaria	2 months
Frequencies of hrp2/3 gene deletions	Frequencies of P. falciparum infections containing HRP2 and/or HRP3 mutations and the impact of those on HRP2-based RDT diagnostic accuracy	2 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, Switzerland
• Collaborators: University of Khartoum; Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): December 1, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 30, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): May 30, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 7, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 7, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): October 20, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 13, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 12, 2023
• Last Verified: October 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Infections; Vector Borne Diseases; Parasitic Diseases; Protozoan Infections; Malaria
• Other Study ID Numbers: MA016 RapiGEN

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No