HHS launched a new initiative that it hopes will help it track and end infectious disease threats before they become full-fledged epidemics.
The agency opened a new office known as the Division for Research, Innovation and Ventures (DRIVe), which created a network of private partners known as accelerators. The organizations will seek out startups and other businesses and help them develop their technologies and treatments to detect and battle infectious diseases.
The hope is to develop solutions that can alert people when they have been infected with a bacteria or virus even before they begin to feel sick.
"It takes too long to recognize when a disease, virus or biological threat has entered a community, to understand the scope of the problem, and to provide enough medicines and healthcare in the right place, at the right time, to mitigate the damage," HHS official said in a statement.
Accelerators will connect them with product development and business support services as well as potential investors.
"This approach will help startups and other businesses shape the next generation of lifesaving technology and transform health security," Deputy Secretary Eric Hargan said in a statement." That innovation is crucial to protecting Americans and saving lives."
Another key focus of DRIVe projects is to create an effective treatment for sepsis, a life-threatening condition that occurs in response to infection or traumatic injury.
Sepsis, a top cause of hospitalization in America, leads to 250,000 deaths annually and costs approximately $24 billion a year to treat, according to HHS. There are no medicines or diagnostics to prevent the condition.
HHS has selected eight institutions including the Texas Medical Center Innovation Institute in Houston, University City Science Center in Philadelphia and SUNY Research Foundation in Stony Brook, N.Y., to become accelerators.
HHS has collectively given the eight organizations more than $500,000 to begin their development efforts.
