Gordon Stein, CFO of CleanTech Lithium, explains why CTL acquired the 23 Laguna Verde licenses. Watch the video here.
London South East prides itself on its community spirit, and in order to keep the chat section problem free, we ask all members to follow these simple rules. In these rules, we refer to ourselves as "we", "us", "our". The user of the website is referred to as "you" and "your".
By posting on our share chat boards you are agreeing to the following:
The IP address of all posts is recorded to aid in enforcing these conditions. As a user you agree to any information you have entered being stored in a database. You agree that we have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic or board at any time should we see fit. You agree that we have the right to remove any post without notice. You agree that we have the right to suspend your account without notice.
Please note some users may not behave properly and may post content that is misleading, untrue or offensive.
It is not possible for us to fully monitor all content all of the time but where we have actually received notice of any content that is potentially misleading, untrue, offensive, unlawful, infringes third party rights or is potentially in breach of these terms and conditions, then we will review such content, decide whether to remove it from this website and act accordingly.
Premium Members are members that have a premium subscription with London South East. You can subscribe here.
London South East does not endorse such members, and posts should not be construed as advice and represent the opinions of the authors, not those of London South East Ltd, or its affiliates.
Brilliant stuff today AgentB. A fine example of cross board collaboration, asking the right questions to those in power. Investment aside, this is a national scandal.
https://twitter.com/sonia_elijah/status/1407693759341604870?s=20
By the way, you can also put pressure on MHRA here:
newscentre@mhra.gov.uk
I've emailed it to my local MP, William Wragg.
@PPipp, absolutely! That was my intention. It would be great if everyone did the same. The more MPs get this, the better.
Excellent work agent B,
if its ok with you, can I copy the letter and send to my local MP?
Try Nicola Sturgeon and Andy Burnham's offices.
"Thanks. I originally did it in the hope that Andrew Neil's new GB News might be interested - but I've heard nothing back from him. "
Gammon Broadcasting News is basically the Tory Party playing at being broadcasters...
Thanks. I originally did it in the hope that Andrew Neil's new GB News might be interested - but I've heard nothing back from him. I also suggested the following awkward questions for Mr Han****/Baroness Harding :
1. Has the Government spent £4bn of UK taxpayer on a test that has been declared unfit for purpose by America's FDA and of 'High Concern' by Heidelberg Uni research?
2. How could the government justify extending the use of the Innova test when it is potentially failing to discover 40% of infections due to low specificity and not being used as intended?
3. How could Govt & MHRA justify switch from Professional use Nasopharyngeal to Home use Anterior Nares with no supporting data?
4. Was it an act of criminal deception that the tests were repackaged with NHS branding and with DHSC assuming the role of 'manufacturer' to override the original instructions for use?
5. Is Porton Down testing with frozen samples fit for purpose, given Mologic & Avacta 'failed' but passed European based field trials with live Covid samples with flying colours?
6. Would you agree that 'Test & Trace' would be far more effective if highly-accurate tests, capable of identifying asymptomatic spreaders, were used?
Perhaps he will feel that it's more of a story if more people urge him to cover it. Feel free to suggest it at
Personal email andrew.neil@gbnews.uk
Studio email gbviews@gbnews.uk
And of course, there's the petition.
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/582714
Great work AgentB..appreciate you being so proactive
15 Avacta warning regarding Porton Down: (See page 55) https://avacta.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Avacta-ARA-2020.pdf
Sources:
1 Expenditure on Innova tests: https://bidstats.uk/tenders/?q=lateral+flow+test
2 NHS rebranding of tests https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9127345/UK-coronavirus-Department-Health-rebranding-professional-use-kit-self-test.html
3 Gov rewrites test instructions (See question 21) https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/wp-content/uploads/sites/52/2020/12/C0964-lft-in-primary-care-faqs-v2-jan-2021.pdf
4 MHRA decision overridden https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/719170/response/1768848/attach/4/MHRA%20Letter%20DHSC%20COVID%2019%20Self%20Test%2022122020%20Redacted.pdf?cookie_passthrough=1
5 Performance of Innova Tests: https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m4469
6 Innova test fails to identify cases: https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/13/covid-test-for-mass-uk-screening-could-miss-up-to-half-of-cases-say-scientists
7 FDA recall of Innova tests: https://www.bmj.com/content/373/bmj.n1514
8 Heidelberg studies https://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/en/diagnostics-global-health
9 MHRA extends EUA for Innova tests: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/following-a-satisfactory-review-mhra-extends-authorisation-of-nhs-test-and-trace-lateral-flow-devices
10 Mologic to sue Government: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/06/14/covid-test-maker-mologic-set-sue-government-stonewalling/
11 Novacyte legal action
https://www.lse.co.uk/rns/NCYT/dhsc-dispute-update-6xq0nnxm1m5ofnx.html
12 Abingdon payment distpute
https://www.lse.co.uk/rns/ABDX/trading-update-jbwvd5gxcoaylpw.html
13Performance of Mologic tests: https://www.finddx.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Mologic_Ag-Public-Report_v1.2-20210615.pdf
14 Performance of Avacta tests: https://avacta.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Brochure-15 Avacta warning regarding Porton Down: (See page 55) https://avacta.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Avacta-ARA-2020.pdf
The following UK diagnostics companies are now launching legal proceedings against the Government for hindering their progress to validation and/or failing to honour contracts. Mologic, a Bedford-based diagnostics accuse the Government of 'stonewalling' the validation of their highly accurate lateral flow test10,the Anglo-French company Novacyt claim breach of their PCR testing contract with the DHSC11 and test manufacturer Abingdon Health12 is owed a total of £6.7 million including VAT by DHSC.
Superior UK-produced tests held up at Porton Down.
In the UK we already have accurate lateral flow antigen tests available to replace Innova stock. Their performance is near-perfect in terms of senstivity and specificity – meaning that they could be used to give a green light ('test to release').
Mologic Ltd (Bedford-based), test validated in Germany
Covid 19 rapid antigen test = Sensitivity 96.4%, Specificity 100%13
Avacta Life Sciences (Whetherby based), test validated in Spain
AffiDX = Sensitivity 100%, Specificity 99% 14
While these test numbers are impressive, the companies have had to obtain validation for their tests in Europe due to procedural issues (use of frozen samples rather than 'real world' testing) at Porton Down. As I noted, Mologic are now seeking legal action for stonewalling and Avacta have warned their shareholders that Porton Down's procedures may affect the company's chances of winning any UK governmental contract 15.
This certainly is a scandal involving billions of UK taxpayer pounds. I implore you to look further into this story and give it the attention it deserves.
Dear [MP NAME] or [Journalist Name]
I am writing to you about the £4bn Innova Contract Scandal - a matter of great concern to anyone who wants to see UK taxpayer money used wisely, the economy opened up as soon as possible and, above all, the spread of Covid 19 stopped.
The rapid lateral flow Covid-19 antigen tests that are the cornerstone of the UK’s mass testing programme are made in China by a company called Xiamen Biotime Biotechnology Co. Ltd, and sold into the UK by a shell company in the USA called Innova Medical Group.
According to Bidstats1, the UK Gov purchased £4,011,000,000 worth of Innova lateral flow tests. A further £230,544,000 was spent to fly them to the UK from China.
Manufacturer, Innova, obtained a CE mark for the tests for professional use on symptomatic individuals and with a swab from the nasopharyngeal area (the painful-to-reach highest part of the nasal passage).
For Test & Trace, DHSC needed a lateral flow test that could be used at home on asymptomatic individuals and wouldn't cause discomfort. Therefore they:
repackaged these tests using NHS branding2,
re-wrote the instructions for use at home by non-professionals, stating that the swab should be taken from the anterior nares (lower nostril) area3
overrode MHRA decision-making processes to pass them for home use in the UK (on both symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals) under an Emergency Use Authorisation4.
In the Liverpool trials, Sir John Bell reviewed the Innova tests with the following results:
Sensitivity 76.8%, reducing to 57.5% when used by non professionals
(Sensitivity = correctly showing negative results for non-infected people)5 Innova's low sensitivity means that the tests would fail to identify up to half of active cases6.
Specificity 99.68% (Specificity = correctly showing positive result for infected people)
On 10th June, the US Food and Drug Agency (FDA) issued a class 1 recall of Innova tests, warning that the tests should be destroyed and binned or returned to the manufacturer7. Germany's Heidelberg university has collated numerous scientific studies, showing Innova's test to be of 'High Concern'8.On 17th June, the MHRA issued a two month extension to Innova's EUA for the UK9
Our government claimed it was a top priority to create a world-beating UK diagnostics industry and to procure a sovereign test and supply chain (vital for future pandemic preparedness). However, in bending the rules for Innova, they have not only held up the development and validation of UK-made lateral flow antigen tests of superior quality, they have also failed to settle outstanding bills.
Forgive me for dropping in here from the Avacta board, but we do have common interests which have been hurt by the Government's irresponsible championing of the substandard Innova test for the UK's mass testing effort. For this reason, I drafted a letter to MPs/Press setting out the facts. The letter was drafted to be even-handed about both Mologic and Avacta tests, so I hope that you will also feel able to use/adapt it as you see fit, to increase awareness. It would be good to show our elected representatives that we are not idiots, and not unaware of their corruption and deceipt.
Text of letter (with sources) to follow.