* Shares jump 20%, seeking U.S. FDA approval
* Also in talks with British hospitals
(Adds share price reaction and detail)
By Sudip Kar-Gupta
PARIS, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Biotechnology company Novacyt
has applied for emergency approval from the
U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) as it races to roll out a
product that tests for the coronavirus, the company said on
Friday.
Novacyt, which is listed in Paris and London, also said it
was in talks with public sector hospitals in Britain.
Its Paris-listed shares jumped by around 20 percent by 0830
GMT.
"As one of the first companies to develop and launch a test
to detect the 2019 strain of nCoV (coronavirus), we have
received unprecedented interest," Novacyt CEO Graham Mullis
said.
"We continue to support our new and existing customers and
are working with the various regulatory authorities to try to
make our nCoV test available to as many countries and
laboratories as possible," he added.
The death toll from the fast-spreading coronavirus in
mainland China has reached 636, with 73 more deaths recorded as
of Thursday, China's National Health Commission said.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta;
Editing by John Stonestreet and Barbara Lewis)