Preeclampsia is a serious pregnancy complication that if left untreated can lead to organ damage and, in rare cases, death.
It occurs in an estimated 7% of pregnancies and is marked by symptoms including high blood pressure, excess protein in urine and swelling. Black women are 60% more likely to develop preeclampsia than white women.
Up until now, the only way to detect preeclampsia before the major symptoms show up is through blood draws that are then analyzed in a laboratory setting. But that’s a costly process and many low-income women don’t go to their doctor or neighborhood clinic for regular screenings during pregnancy.
Now, a startup with close ties to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Grove and using research developed at Cedars is trying to change this. Gravidas Diagnostics Inc. is developing a fingerstick test that can be used in the home or in another point-of-care setting.
On Dec. 10, Cedars announced that Gravidas had received a $3 million grant from the federal Advanced Research Projects Agency – Health (ARPA-H, a unit within the Department of Health and Human Services) to further the development and eventual marketing of a home-based preeclampsia test kit.
“(This award) 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,” said Nirdesh Gupta, Gravidas’ chief executive who is also managing partner of Cedars-Sinai Intellectual Property Co.
The test will be especially useful in low-income communities, according to Sarah Kilpatrick, chair of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
“Pregnant women with risk factors and limited access to routine obstetric care will be the largest beneficiaries of this home-based test,” she said.
But it will be several years before Gravidas Diagnostics’ home-based test gets U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval and can be marketed, Gupta said.
Gravidas, founded in 2021, is part of Cedars-Sinai Technology Ventures, which supports the commercialization of research discoveries and technologies to improve the quality of life for patients and has its office across the street from the flagship medical center campus in Beverly Grove.
