Positive test results boost Covid response hopes

Two Yorkshire life sciences businesses have strengthened their positions  in the country’s response to Covid-19, after new research highlights the strength of their rapid tests.

The news comes after the Prime Minister stated testing is the “route forward” for the country in his latest Downing Street briefing.

Wetherby-based life sciences business, Avacta Group, which has been developing a rapid test to detect Covid-19 says it is delighted with the data from initial clinical studies of the test.

The firm says it has received the first data for its SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen test from ongoing studies in Europe and the UK.

Adding these data show “excellent performance” of the test in identifying patients with an infectious viral load and no false positive results.

Avacta’s SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen test has been devised to identify infectious individuals so they can isolate promptly and reduce the spread of Covid-19.

The company says evaluation of its test with clinical samples has been carried out at two sites, one in the EU and one in the UK.

These evaluations show the test is sensitive enough to correctly identify people with the virus, without generating large numbers of false positive results which would force people to isolate unnecessarily.

It added that the tests would now “progress to a full clinical validation” with the aim “to bring the test to market in Europe around the end of the first quarter of this year”.

Dr Alastair Smith, chief executive officer of Avacta Group, said: “I am delighted with the performance of the test with clinical samples which is extremely encouraging.

These data from the first clinical studies will allow us to quickly progress with confidence into the full clinical validation of the test, manufactured at scale, at our clinical trial sites in the UK and the EU.

“I am confident these data will accelerate our commercial discussions regarding the roll-out of the test when it is approved for professional use.”

At the same time, York and Doncaster-based Abingdon Health has welcomed an announcement of a pre-print publication, funded by Public Health England (PHE), reviewing performance of rapid antibody tests, including its own AbC-19 Rapid Test.

This Covid-19 rapid antibody test was approved for professional use in the UK and EU last summer.

The latest study, which is subject to peer review, was performed by scientists at PHE, and the Universities of Bristol, Warwick and Cambridge. It examined the performance of four lateral flow rapid antibody tests using the same cohort of samples. and concluded that  Abingdon Health’s AbC-19 is “highly accurate” when tested on samples from individuals previously positive for the virus by PCR tests and from samples collected pre-pandemic.

Professor Chris Molloy, chairman of the UK Rapid Test Consortium, said: “This research on the different use cases for lateral flow antibody tests is welcome.

“The AbC-19 test is an important weapon in the global fight against COVID-19. It allows us to see the neutralising IgG antibodies produced in response to infection, or after vaccination.”

These results come after Prime Minister Boris Johnson outlined the important role lateral flow tests could play in reviving the UK economy.

In Monday evening’s Covid-19 briefing Boris Johnson outlined that he hopes people would be able to return to nightclubs and theatres through the use of rapid Covid-19 tests.

Claiming the use of such products provided a “route forward” for those businesses which had been the “toughest nuts to crack” such as nightclubs which have been shut since March.

The stock market has responded positively to the news, with Avacta’s share price up 23% in early trading, with Abingdon seeing a rise of  8%.

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