George Frangeskides, Chairman at ALBA, explains why the Pilbara Lithium option ‘was too good to miss’. Watch the video here.
From today and for the next four weeks, lateral flow tests will be offered to all people attending a case at Manchester CJC who are not showing any symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19). The test will also be offered to all staff, judiciary, contractors and legal professionals who visit the site. It will not be a public testing facility.
The tests are voluntary and will be carried out through lateral flow devices, which detect the presence or absence of coronavirus by applying a swab or saliva sample to the device’s absorbent pad. The sample runs along the surface of the pad, showing at the end a visual positive or negative result dependent on the presence of the virus.
The pilot will support the NHS Test and Trace national testing programme by providing information on how rapid testing works in different public sector settings. HMCTS will use findings to decide how rapid testing could be rolled out nationally to other courts and tribunals across the country.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/rapid-testing-to-be-piloted-at-manchester-court
UK secures 60 MILLION more coronavirus vaccines - huge boost as EU plunged into chaos
THE UK has secured 60 million more doses of a coronavirus vaccine as the European Union scrambles over its supply of COVID-19 jabs.
Avacta Group plc
("Avacta" or "the Group" or "the Company")
Collaboration Agreement with Bruker
Collaboration to evaluate the clinical utility of the high throughput bead assisted mass spectrometry (BAMSTM) test for SARS-CoV-2 infection developed with Adeptrix
Avacta Group plc (AIM: AVCT), the developer of Affimer® biotherapeutics and reagents, announces that it has entered into a collaboration agreement with Bruker Corporation (Billerica, MA) (NASDAQ: BRKR, "Bruker") to evaluate the Affimer-based, bead assisted mass spectrometry ("BAMSTM") SARS-CoV-2 assay, that the Group has developed with Adeptrix Inc. (Beverley, MA) ("Adeptrix").
Bruker is one of the world's leading analytical instrumentation companies providing high-performance scientific instruments and high-value analytical and diagnostic solutions to scientists globally. It is also one of the foremost suppliers of mass spectrometers with a significant installed based in clinical microbiology laboratories in hospitals world-wide.
Avacta has worked with Adeptrix Inc (Beverly, MA, USA) to develop a coronavirus antigen test that combines enrichment of the sample using Affimer® reagents with the analytical power of mass-spectrometry. Up to 1,000 samples per day can be analysed by a single technician using a BAMS assay, exceeding the capacity of the commonly used PCR machines, making BAMS a potentially very attractive high throughput technique for COVID-19 screening in the clinical setting.
Having successfully developed a prototype test with Adeptrix, Avacta, has been working with its clinical partners in the UK to refine the assay to fit into the typical workflows in a clinical microbiology laboratory. The collaboration with Bruker announced today will assess the suitability of the test as a professional-use in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) product for SARS-CoV-2 infection to run on Bruker's MALDI-TOF instruments for sale in the UK and Europe.
Dr Alastair Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Avacta Group, commented:
"I am delighted to have established this collaboration agreement with Bruker to further develop the potential for the BAMS COVID-19 test as a clinical IVD. We will be working closely with Bruker on the clinical assessment of the BAMS assay on Bruker's MALDI-TOF instruments.
Our objective is to work with Bruker and our clinical partners to deliver an effective and high throughput assay protocol, that can be applied in the clinical setting, with the required sensitivity and specificity and CE/FDA approvals to provide a useful additional diagnostic tool in the fight against the coronavirus.
I look forward to updating the market when we have definitive clinical performance data."
i might find some money and invest in a vaseline company
Better get the full swabbing done in the correct sequence ....lol
Research.....research ....evaluate....if your judgement is correct you will make good decisions and not worry about price fluctuations.
Might not be that new.... apologies
The fifth pillar is the most ambitious. We want to build, in a short space of time, the large-scale diagnostics industry that this country currently lacks. Just as our top-end manufacturers have joined the national effort to build ventilators, so our life sciences companies will do the same for testing. UK pharmaceutical giants, which don’t have a tradition of diagnostics, are now working with our world-leading but smaller diagnostics companies to build a large-scale British diagnostics industry at scale. This new national effort for testing will ensure we can get tests for everyone who needs them.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/industry-responds-to-call-to-arms-to-build-british-diagnostics-industry-at-scale#history
yorkshire post back in 15th May 2020
"Further work at Avacta has now shown that several of these Affimer reagents block the interaction between the virus' spike protein and a receptor found on human cells, called ACE2, to which the virus spike protein binds in order to infect cells. Affimer reagents that block the binding of the virus spike protein to ACE2 therefore have the potential to prevent infection and act as "neutralising" therapies."
"Neutralising therapies could be given to those exposed to the virus, such as health and social-care workers, to prevent infection, as well as to patients already infected by the virus, to help treat and prevent disease progression."
The statement added: "Large pharmaceutical companies, such as AstraZeneca and GSK, are now starting programmes to develop neutralising antibodies in an attempt to block the SARS-COV-2 spike protein's interaction with ACE2. Avacta has now demonstrated that several Affimer reagents also perform this blocking function and the company is now seeking a partner that has the resources available to develop a neutralising Affimer therapy as quickly as possible."
Dr Alastair Smith, chief executive officer of Avacta Group, commented: "This is a very exciting development in the COVID-19 programme. It only took four weeks to generate more than fifty Affimer reagents that bind the SARS-COV-2 virus spike protein and amongst those we now know that there are neutralising Affimers that block the interaction with a key human cell surface receptor, raising the potential for a therapy to prevent infection.
"Recently GSK invested $250 million in Vir Biotechnology Inc3 to develop potential antibody treatments for COVID-19 by selecting antibodies from recovered patients, and AstraZeneca also recently announced that it would start a programme to find new monoclonal antibodies that block the spike/ACE2 interaction4.
"There is significant potential for a therapy that could help prevent infection and limit the progression of the disease, providing immediate benefit to patients. With a large and well-resourced partner, a neutralising Affimer therapy could potentially be developed more quickly than a vaccine and we believe that the likelihood of success would be high.
https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/business/yorkshire-based-avacta-finds-significant-potential-therapy-could-limit-progression-coronavirus-2854055
https://avacta.com/alastair-smith-provides-update-on-affyxell-collaboration-and-licence-agreement/
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/25/americas/brazil-manaus-covid-second-wave-intl/index.html
Rather than waste the day on the chat watch this programme.
Avacta therapy would have been a benefit for Lily.
https://www.channel4.com/programmes/can-we-cure-kids-cancer?cntsrc=social_share_android_can_we_cure_kids_cancer
The WHO's Special Envoy on COVID-19 says more and more reliable antigen tests will become available in the coming weeks.