Detroit, Michigan-based biotechnology company Functional Fluidics (313-315-2555) announces its expansion into sub-Saharan Africa to enable healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies, and ultimately patients to benefit from its expertise in defining red blood cell health.
Following the announcement, Its expansion into sub-Saharan Africa will start in Nigeria, where operations will begin in the latter part of this year. Its provisions will include broadening local access to in-depth insights into the health of red blood cells via its testing platforms that assess key properties supporting red blood cell function and survival, helping to advance drug development and patient care for sickle cell disease (SCD).
Go to https://www.functionalfluidics.com for more information.
With this expansion, Functional Fluidics aims to increase access to its diagnostic tools in sub-Saharan Africa, where SCD affects most countries in the region, thereby potentially increasing the number of sickle cell patients who receive appropriate care for their condition.
Sickle cell disease is a group of inherited disorders that affect the hemoglobin and causes an individual’s red blood cells, which transport oxygen throughout the body, to become curved like a sickle or crescent moon, sticky, and stiff instead of round and flexible. Due to this, blood flow in individuals with the disease can become slowed or blocked, leading to anemia, pain, infections, or organ damage.
According to the World Health Organization, about 5% of the world’s population carries trait genes for hemoglobin disorders such as sickle cell disease, with over 300,000 babies being born each year with severe hemoglobin disorders. And with approximately 80% of sickle-cell cases occurring in sub-Saharan Africa, the region has the highest prevalence of individuals living with the disease.
Founded in 2014, Functional Fluidics specializes in clinical blood function assessments to evaluate individual patient responses. Since its establishment, the company has been providing clinically-validated assays to healthcare providers and pharmaceutical companies across the United States.
Its diagnostic platforms evaluate the health of red blood cells in the body by replicating their environment during studies. Through these tests, specific issues related to the health of red blood cells are assessed and identified.
The company then provides the collated information to doctors and scientists, empowering them to develop requisite drug therapies and help providers caring for patients with sickle cell disease. The biotech company also supplies monitoring services for clinical studies, using its assays to measure the effects of a drug on blood function.
With this announcement, Functional Fluidics confirms its commitment to providing reliable assays that integrate clinical trial support, deep scientific knowledge, laboratory expertise, and data sciences to promote the development of transformative drug therapies faster and more cost-effectively to aid sickle-cell patients in sub-Saharan Africa.
“We are committed to expanding access to valuable insights on the health of red blood cells that can be obtained from our portfolio of red blood cell biomarkers. Our goal at Functional Fluidics is to help Life Science innovators accelerate the speed, cost, and success rate of bringing new life-changing therapies to individuals with sickle cell disease,” said Dr. Patrick Hines, founder and CEO of Functional Fluidics.
For more details, visit https://www.functionalfluidics.com