(Alliance News) - Avacta Group PLC on Wednesday said it has inked a collaboration deal with Cyteiva to develop and manufacture a rapid Covid-19 test which could provide a result in minutes.
Shares in Avacta jumped 51% to 36.30 pence in London in response to the announcement.
The test will be based on Avacta's Affimer technology and will be a point-of-care rapid test which will use a respiratory sample such as saliva to "quickly diagnose Covid-19". The test is intended to be used to screen large populations to help limit and track infections.
At present, no existing tests can be used to screen in large numbers since they must be done in a laboratory and results can take several days.
The Affimer platform is intended as an alternative to antibodies in diagnostics and treatment, with Affimer reagents being quicker to produce than antibodies. Already, Avacta is generating Affimer reagents which can detect the virus.
Cytiva - known as GE Healthcare Life Sciences when part of General Electric Co - will help develop the test and will transfer the diagnotic assay onto its test strip platform with both companies working jointly "to complete analytical and clinical validation of the test as quickly as possible".
Avacta will own the intellectual property relating to the Covid-19 Affimer reagents and keep commercial rights to future products. No further commercial details were disclosed.
Avacta Chief Executive Alastair Smith said: "I am delighted that we have established this collaboration with Cytiva to develop, manufacture and commercialise a rapid test for Covid-19 infection. Importantly the test will indicate if a person has the virus now, whether they are showing symptoms or not, and will do so in minutes, in-situ with no need for laboratory equipment.
"Hundreds of millions of tests will be needed for population screening and we will be working hard to deliver an Affimer based solution on Cytiva's platform, and potentially on the platforms of other partners with whom we are in active discussion, as soon as possible. We are aiming to have developed Affimer reagents for a Covid-19 test by the end of May that can be transferred to Cytiva and potentially to other global diagnostic manufacturers to implement in a test strip".
By Anna Farley; annafarley@alliancenews.com
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Avacta Group (AVCT)