Salignostics gets $1.87M Gates Foundation grant for saliva-based HIV and pregnancy diagnostics

What's the deal? SalignosticsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, an Israeli developer of saliva-based diagnostics, has received US$1.21M grant from the Gates FoundationDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The funding will support development of non-invasive screening tools for HIV and high-risk pregnancy complications in developing countries, with deployment planned through 2026–2027.

The platform is designed to replace traditional blood tests with needle-free saliva alternatives that can be used at low cost in regions like Sub-Saharan Africa.

Why now? An estimated 40.8 million people live with HIV worldwide, with roughly 1.3 million new infections annually — most in developing regions. Meanwhile, complications like preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, and preterm birth affect around 20 million pregnancies globally, often going undiagnosed where laboratory infrastructure is scarce.

Salignostics is building a molecular saliva test to detect early HIV rebound and monitor viral load, plus a maternal screening panel for pregnancy complications — both targeting gaps that existing tools struggle to fill in low-resource settings.

What could go wrong? Saliva-based diagnostics must prove they can match the accuracy of blood tests in real-world conditions. Regulatory approval across multiple developing markets adds complexity, and scaling distribution in remote areas remains a logistical challenge — even with a platform that doesn't require cold-chain logistics.

The signal: Salignostics, still at the early growth stage according to Dealroom, is leveraging non-dilutive grant funding to tackle regulatory and distribution hurdles that typically demand far larger equity rounds — a playbook that could prove instructive for other healthtech startups targeting low-resource markets. The Gates Foundation's backing also signals rising institutional confidence that saliva-based diagnostics can move beyond niche consumer products like Salistick into high-stakes clinical applications at scale.

Read more: Calcalist