City briefs: Avacta and ITM Power
Biotech business Avacta says it is temporarily suspending sales of its antigen lateral flow test (LFT) in order to boost its performance in detecting the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
The Wetherby-based says the performance of all rapid antigen tests has come under scrutiny due to the large number of mutations in the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The business notes the US Food and Drug Administration, as well as other sources, have indicated that antigen tests generally will detect the Omicron variant – but may have reduced sensitivity.
Avacta says its own analysis indicates the sensitivity of its test is reduced with lower viral loads of Omicron, when compared with the sensitivity of the test with previous variants of the virus.
It adds: its “antigen lateral flow test contains both a proprietary Affimer® reagent and a commercially available antibody.
“Our data show the Affimer® reagent in the AffiDX® test detects the Omicron variant with the same sensitivity as the Delta variant, and it is the performance of the antibody, with which the Affimer® is paired in the test, that has been affected by the additional Omicron mutations.
“The company has therefore taken the decision to pause sales of the AffiDX® antigen test, whilst it replaces the antibody in the product to ensure its performance with the Omicron variant matches the high performance with previous mutations.”
Alastair Smith, chief executive of Avacta, said: “We set very high standards for ourselves and our products and have continually kept the performance of the AffiDX® antigen test under review as new SARS-CoV-2 variants have arisen.
“Our determination to only provide high quality, high performance diagnostic tests has led us to the correct decision to pause all marketing of the AffiDX® lateral flow antigen test.
“We have, of course, been unable to market the product in the UK since October 2021, as the product continues to await approval under the new CTDA regulatory process.
“We believe COVID-19 testing remains a long-term commercial opportunity. We will therefore use the robustness of the Affimer® platform, and what we have learned about the SARS-CoV-2 virus, to generate the next generation antigen test that will be as resilient as possible to any future mutations.”
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Dr Graham Cooley
Energy storage and clean fuel business, ITM Power, says its wholly owned subsidiary, ITM Power GmbH, has secured a €1.95m/£1.6m award for the SINEWAVE project, part of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research’s hydrogen flagship project – H2Giga.
This focuses on technology development for series production and industrialisation of electrolysis systems.
The project runs to March 2025 and is the first time ITM Power has accessed German federal funding.
SINEWAVE brings together scientific and technical skills to close research gaps in the field of series production of electrolysis systems.
It is dedicated to the exploration of process engineering, materials science and digital sub-disciplines to enable the construction of efficient large-scale proton-conducting membrane electrolysis systems that can produce large quantities of green hydrogen cost-effectively in the future.
Dr Graham Cooley, CEO of Sheffield-based ITM Power, said: “Our German subsidiary and its management team has embedded itself in that country’s hydrogen discussions and debates.
“Our participation in the federally funded SINEWAVE project provides an endorsement of our place in Germany’s hydrogen strategy. I congratulate the team at ITM Power GmbH.”
