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Minimally invasive detection of micronutrient levels in humans
  • Background
  • What we're looking for
  • What we can offer you
  • Who we are
  • Q&A
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Background

We are a global consumer health company, delivering over-the-counter products that empower individuals to take control of their health and well-being.  

 

Millions worldwide are unable to fully meet their nutritional needs, leading to fatigue, weakened immunity, cognitive impairments, and long-term health risks. Many individuals remain unaware of their deficiencies until symptoms manifest, underscoring the need for proactive monitoring.  

 

Current methods to identify vitamin levels typically involve blood tests, which are invasive, inconvenient, and can be costly. This often discourages individuals from routine assessment and inhibits widescale adoption. Emerging minimally invasive technologies, including biofluids testing (urine, saliva, etc.), digital biomarkers, imaging or spectroscopic techniques promise greater accessibility but face challenges with accuracy, scope, reliability, and the need for specialized equipment or clinic visits.  

 

Home testing kits and consumer-grade devices provide convenience but may lack the accuracy needed to deliver reliable insights, offering data that may not reflect the user’s current condition effectively. For instance, some urine tests fail to reliably indicate real-time nutritional status due to variations in hydration and metabolism. 

 

These limitations highlight the need for a reliable, affordable, and user-friendly solution for assessing micronutrient levels. Such a tool would enable timely interventions and support proactive health management, aligning with our mission to deliver innovative, sustainable, and accessible health solutions.

What we're looking for

We are looking for a cost-effective, minimally invasive solution to detect micronutrients levels in humans. Ideally, this would be an accurate, disposable, at-home test, such as a lateral flow test, or a consumer-grade device suitable for retail sale, designed for easy use at home or on-site testing, providing instant results. We are also interested in painless blood sampling or validated dietary questionnaires.

A quick test-to-result time is essential, with on-site testing results (within minutes) strongly preferred over send-away tests (requiring days). Low costs and low user complexity are critical, with tests priced for mass-market accessibility and any required hardware at a disposable price point.

Solutions detecting diverse nutritional markers are encouraged, including those using combined sampling methods to address nutrients unavailable in specific mediums like saliva. These solutions may measure one or more of the following vitamins, minerals or their metabolites:

Solutions of interest include:
  • Saliva-based assays
  • Low volume blood tests
  • Lateral flow assays
  • Spectroscopy-based tools
  • Validated nutritional questionnaires
  • Multi-analyte testing kits
  • On-site testing devices for retail distribution
  • Wearable nutrient monitoring systems leveraging biosensors
  • Urine biomarkers with enhanced accuracy
  • Enhanced test strips with advanced accuracy
  • Imaging technologies coupled with mobile devices
Our must-have requirements are:
  • Provides minimally invasive and user-friendly testing capabilities
  • Delivers reliable results for nutrient level assessment
  • Low-cost and low user complexity
  • Rapid turnaround time for delivery of results
  • Utilises advanced or innovative methods to achieve high accuracy
Our nice-to-have's are:
  • Non-invasive technologies
  • Compatible with smartphone integration
  • Provides multi-nutrient assessments in a single test
  • Scalable for consumer use, including at-home or retail applications
  • Conformity to regulatory requirements in the US (FDA) or EU (CE Mark) for the intended testing (FDA Guidance | EU Guidance IVD)
What's out of scope:
  • Solutions requiring invasive sample collection, such as blood draws
  • Diagnostics limited to clinical or laboratory settings
  • Devices requiring specialized training or expertise to operate
  • High-complexity/high-cost technologies
Acceptable technology readiness levels (TRL):
Levels 2-9
What we can offer you
Eligible partnership models:
Sponsored researchCo-developmentEquity investmentSupply/purchaseLicensing
Benefits:
Sponsored Research
Funding is proposal-dependent, starting with a proof-of-concept project that has the potential for expansion based on results and opportunities. The funding range is from $25,000 to $100,000 for a six-month project.
Expertise
We also offer the expertise of our team of scientists for collaboration and guidance during the project's development. Possible partnerships with us include, but are not limited to, sponsored research, joint development, supply, consulting, and licensing.
Who we are

Our global team is dedicated to developing and collaborating on future-facing, scientifically proven, consumer-focused innovations and technologies. We believe that true innovation comes from collaboration and partnerships with start-ups, academia, health tech pioneers, and innovators.

Haleon has a strong portfolio of consumer health brands and plays a vital role for people all around the world, in a sector that is growing and more relevant than ever. We have five brand categories: Oral Health, Vitamins, Minerals and Supplements(VMS), Pain, Respiratory & Digestive. Our trusted brands like Sensodyne, Advil, Centrum & Voltaren improve the lives of millions globally.

 Learn more
Reviewers
Q&A with Haleon

The Q&A is now closed.

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Q.
I have two different technology platforms that are appropriate here. Is it recommended to submit a proposal for each platform or combine them and let your reviewers recommend none/one/both for funding?
1
A.
Hi Darius, Thank you for sharing this so quickly and for your interest in the brief. Given that there are two types of technology platforms, I suggest submitting two separate applications with the necessary details. Our team will review them together after the briefing period and get back to you. Thank you, and we look forward to hearing from your team.
LG
Leela Ganesh, Innovation Ecosystem Lead, Haleon
March 6, 2025
Is this response helpful?
0
0
Q.
We are a private assay development company that focuses on rapid point of care assays such as Lateral Flow with. We have over 45 years of experience in the field that covers FDA, USDA, DoD, AOAC approved markets.
1
A.
Hi Joe, Thank you for sharing this so quickly. It sounds very interesting and aligns well with what we're looking for. We would love for you to submit the application with more details. Our team will review it together and get back to you. Thanks for your engagement!
LG
Leela Ganesh, Innovation Ecosystem Lead, Haleon
March 6, 2025
Is this response helpful?
0
0
Q.
What is scope of spectroscopic solutions here? There may be 'markers' to indicate targets of interest in vivo. Solutions may probably in "concept" phase and need "proof of concept" - can you clarify some more?
1
A.
Dr. Karthik Vishwanath Thank you for your response, we appreciate you taking the time to review the posting. Overall, we’re interested in any technology capable of providing insights into micronutrient levels in the body. Taking spectroscopy as a potential technology solution, this could be as applied to assessing health (and inferred/ validated nutritional implication) or direct measurement of micronutrients e.g.: Spectroscopic measurement of in vivo health condition and inferred nutritional needs i.e. smart phone imaging of the body etc. Spectroscopy for direct quantitation of specific micronutrient levels i.e. RRS/SERS for micronutrients in blood (though this would be contingent on a much lower cost than we understand currently possible). With regard to stage, we are interested in TRL4+ in which the technology has been demonstrated as feasibly possible for this application at least in a laboratory setting.
LG
Leela Ganesh, Innovation Ecosystem Lead, Haleon
February 5, 2025
Is this response helpful?
1
0
Q.
I would like to know more about your company and any products you have on the market. Our company, NanoSpeed Diagnostics Inc. (www.nanospeed.ca) has already commercialized four of the products on your list (vitamin D, Vitamin B12, Vitamin A, and Ferritin). Our point of care tests are performed in a single drop of blood at the spot in 10 minutes. All our products are CE and UKCA certified. Vitamin D has been launched recently on phone app, and will be followed for other analytes. Would like to talk to the company to explore any synergistic approach. Rajan Gupta, Founder and COO; rajan@nanospeed.ca; 780 318-4490
1
A.
Dear Dr. Rajan Gupta, Thank you for reaching out and sharing information about NanoSpeed Diagnostics Inc. We appreciate your interest in exploring potential synergies. We may be interested in discussing in future and finding out more about you platform, after the proposal process is complete.
LO
Lewis Oakley, Principal Scientist - Digital Diagnostics, Haleon
February 27, 2025
Is this response helpful?
0
0
Q.
We work on recognition elements (Phage, protein, RNA) for biosensors to quantify compounds in blood (mostly) that may apply to many/all compounds listed. Will you partner with TLR2/3 projects to influence research goals?
1
A.
Dear Dr. Larry Unsworth, Thank you for your inquiry. We are potentially interested in partnering on TLR2/3 projects to influence research goals related to biosensors for quantifying compounds in blood. We would love to hear more about your technology and its current development stage. Could you please share your proposal along with any information on the technology's maturity.
LO
Lewis Oakley, Principal Scientist - Digital Diagnostics, Haleon
February 27, 2025
Is this response helpful?
0
0
Q.
We have developed an ultra-sensitive point-of-need platform technology that would be a great fit for your project needs. Does your company anticipate awarding a single contract or multiple contracts for this opportunity? Also, should we include anticipated budget costs in the initial proposal, or will that be addressed in later stages?
1
A.
Hi Josi, Thank you for your interest in the brief. We really appreciate it and look forward to hearing more about your platform and technology. We strongly suggest that you submit your application through the portal, introducing the fundamentals and preliminary details. At this stage, we do not need to include the anticipated budgets; we can discuss this in further detail down the road.
LG
Leela Ganesh, Innovation Ecosystem Lead, Haleon
March 25, 2025
Is this response helpful?
0
0
Q.
We identified biochemical components in mouse and human serum, and tracked their changes across diseases and progression stages. Component peak shifts (metal effects) were also observed. What level should we apply to?
1
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