A South San Francisco-based startup that's focused on improving both maternal and infant health has received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to expand its research to Africa.
Mirvie is developing a way to predict health conditions earlier during pregnancy, particularly preeclampsia, a type of high blood pressure that can develop during pregnancy and lead to other complications like strokes, seizures, organ failure, premature births and maternal deaths.
On Wednesday, Mirvie said it was awarded a $4.6 million grant from the Gates Foundation to launch studies in three countries in Africa: Cameroon, Ghana and Zambia.
"We’re thrilled to have the support of the foundation as Mirvie works to predict and prevent pregnancy complications, allowing providers and patients to intervene before they become a crisis," Mirvie's co-founder and CEO Maneesh Jain said in a press release.
Mirvie uses a simple blood test, which can be added to routine pregnancy health screenings, to identify markers that indicate preeclampsia is likely to develop. And the company says it can catch and diagnose the condition in the second trimester of pregnancy. Currently, many pregnancy-related conditions like preeclampsia aren't diagnosed until symptoms appear in the third trimester.
Around 1 in 25 pregnancies develop preeclampsia in the U.S., according to the CDC.
Eventually, Mirvie wants to develop tests for all pregnancy-related conditions.
Last year, the company received the FDA's Breakthrough Device designation for preeclampsia blood test.
Jain co-founded Mirvie with Stephen Quake in 2018, and the company has raised over $90 million, including $15 million in debt financing that was announced as part of its Series B round last year.
