RNS20 Nov 2020 23:40
Group revenues lower as expected but recovering well, increased headcount as the company is expanding which is an amazing achievement during this pandemic, I especially liked these two paragraphs regarding new tests.
1.5 COVID-19 Products
Towards the end of H1 FY21 we launched two automated immunoassays for the detection of SARS-CoV2 IgG and IgM antibodies, which can detect past infections as well as providing critical public health information. We also provided outsourced manufacturing services to The Binding Site (UK) for their ELISA-based SARS-CoV-2 antibody test. Revenue from COVID-19 products amounted to Β£0.4m during Q2 FY21.
With the potential arrival of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, public health studies into the virus should increase as there will be a need to measure the success of the vaccination programmes. There should be a growing interest in monitoring the overall antibody level in a population to measure the attainment of a protective antibody level nationwide for achieving herd immunity. This could drive increased sales of our automated SARS-CoV2 antibody tests.
The above tests are used to confirm past infections. However currently the market focus is on testing to verify an active infection. Therefore, in conjunction with one of our partners, we are working on the development of a saliva-based rapid test for SARS-CoV-2 antigens. This manual test, which has the potential for self-administered use, would allow for immediate identification of individuals with an elevated amount of SARS-CoV-2 virus and be extremely helpful for curtailing the spread of the virus. In addition, it will overcome the shortcoming of presently used rapid tests based on nasopharyngeal swabs, which rely on sampling by professional staff only.
1.6 Assay Development and Product Registration
In Europe, in addition to the two automated SARS-Cov-2 tests we released the IDS Automated Cortisol assay, which rounds out our automated hypertension panel. We also entered the field of therapeutic drug monitoring, with a panel of four new tests co-developed with a partner. These are the first such automated tests on the market. They are used to monitor the efficacy of Infliximab (trade name Remicade) and Adalimumab (trade name Humira) which are antibody-based drugs used in the management of chronic inflammatory diseases.
In the US we achieved 510k approval for our BAP assay and expect to make the first sales of this key assay to a major US laboratory chain during H2 FY21.