Novel IVD to detect methanol poisinoing

Methanol leads to a large number of poisonings each year worldwide. Large outbreaks leads to significant deaths and inflict permanent brain damage and blindness. Patients are usually poisoned by drinking ethanol diluted with methanol. The toxicological principles of methanol are well known ; methanol is metabolized to formic acid, which in turn creates toxicity. Current treatment is effective if initiated early, but because of difficulties with diagnosis the morbidity and mortality remains high. Methanol analyzes are not widely available, and even in the western world, the delay from sampling to the result is often very long ( > 24-48 hours). In developing countries delay is much longer - if at all achievable. In addition, methanol poisoning mimic many medical conditions that make diagnosis difficult without proper analytical options. In this project we develop a fully disposable one-time use test strip for diagnosing methanol poisoning in humans. This tailored point-of- care product can be shipped anywhere in the world with small means, does not require laboratory equipment, nor laboratory personnel. It will have a global scope, and the first customers will be hospitals in selected endemic areas , outpatient clinics , and large international medical humanitarian organizations.