Global health R&D at work in New Jersey
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School helped develop a new rapid test for tuberculosis (TB). The test, Xpert® MTB/RIF Ultra, is a second-generation version of a test that revolutionized TB diagnosis. Like its predecessor, Ultra is fast, accurate, easy to use, and needs no extra equipment—making it particularly suitable for low-resource settings. But Ultra is better able to detect TB in children, people with HIV, and certain drug-resistant cases. Results from Ultra allow patients to start on treatment quickly and receive the appropriate therapy if their strain is drug resistant, increasing treatment success rates and reducing the spread of the world’s second deadliest infectious disease killer following COVID-19.