Fyodor Urine Malaria Test (UMT), a malaria test that diagnoses the disease within 25 minutes using drops of urine samples, received the 2015 Health Innovation Challenge Awards on Tuesday, October 28. The award comes with a grant of $100,000 and an enrollment in the Nigerian Health Innovation Marketplace (NHIM) programme; both benefits are aimed at supporting the innovators in their contribution to saving lives and improving the society.

Eddy Agbo, the developer of the UMT and Chief Executive Officer, was previously presented with the Outstanding Business Innovation by Africa Diaspora Award by the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) in December, 2014.

According to him, the UMT will be available in pharmacies across Nigeria, starting next week, and will be distributed by Geneith Pharmaceuticals Nigeria Ltd. UMT is endorsed by the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), and approved by NAFDAC.

In a first of its kind achievement, the studies to determine the clinical performance of the test were carried out in Enugu State, Nigeria, last year. The innovators received collaboration from University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, University of Lagos, College of Medicine, the Federal Ministry of Health, and more.

The use of urine in the place of blood gives the test an advantage in malaria diagnostics. It works by putting the test strip in a container with as little as five drops of urine. It does not require expertise, and can be administered by anyone. Its performance falls within the range recommended for malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs) by the WHO.

Rapid diagnosis is an important tool in the fight against malaria, due to the fatal risks that the disease can carry if undiscovered in early stages. RDT kits such as the UMT are therefore a welcome development in malaria endemic regions, where they would assist in eliminating a common practice of treating the disease ‘blindly’ without proper diagnosis, as well as contribute in addressing other healthcare challenges.

Herbert Wigwe, the Chairman of the NHIM (the Health Innovation Challenge Awards initiators) and Managing Director of Access Bank Plc, and Dr. Muntaqa Umar-Sadiq, Chief Executive Officer of the Private Health Sector Alliance of Nigeria emphasised the need for Nigeria to invest in its healthcare systems and develop the sector by supporting and encouraging innovation.

The Health Innovation Challenge organisation has tasked itself with discovering innovators in all the different geopolitical zones in Nigeria, who are on the path to revolutionising healthcare in the country. According to them, if the government joined forces with the private health sector and donors, they could come up with lasting solutions for healthcare.

Runners-up for the challenge were prized on the innovations in reduction in cost of acquiring medical services (Medical Devices as a Service), communication of health information in local Nigerian languages (Electronic Health Education in Any Language), affordable health insurance plans for mobile subscribers (Mobile Health Insurance Programme), health monitor for pregnant mothers and unborn babies (Omomi – My child).

UMT is sponsored by Fyodor Biotechnologies Nigeria, a subsidiary of Fyodor Biotechnologies Corporations is a privately-owned, US based company focused on the research, development, and manufacture of innovative diagnostic and biopharmaceutical products.