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Today's news is obviously dissapointing. But importantly, as i'm sure has been pointed our here already today (I can't be bothered to wade through the swamp I'm afraid) the issue lies with the commerically available anti-bodies, NOT with the Affimers.
What's more this is therefore likely to be an issue with antigene tests in general, not just Avacta's LFT, many of which are likely to be less sensitive to Omicron. The FDA have known this for some time and recently put out the following, stating that "Early data suggests that antigen tests do detect the omicron variant but may have reduced sensitivity."
https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-covid-19-and-medical-devices/sars-cov-2-viral-mutations-impact-covid-19-tests#omicronvariantimpact
It's normal that the share price has fallen as it has, this is after all a volatile, and let's not forget somewhat risky stock. However, if it falls any further, I for one will certainly be adding.
GLA
Yeah, £80.7m. The link is a link is a bit deceptive without the punctuation...
It's a shame there is no mention of Avacta in the article; an oversight. Still, it reinforces the potentially huge market for these types of ligands/platforms. Very encouraging
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/dec/20/uk-biotech-firm-aptamer-to-float-valued-at-807m
Interesting...
With Covid infections continuing to accelerate around the world and the potential to halve quarantine times for travellers, news in the next week or so would be very good timing and could be explosive in terms of sp if good:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/28/covid-19-test-a-week-after-uk-arrival-could-halve-quarantine-time
Pan African Resources (PAF). High (and rising) gold price. Reduced operations cost due to fall in oil prices. Already profitable. Just reinstated it's dividend (very well covered). Debt repayments going well. Next stop 20p.
Shield Therapeutics (STX). FDA approved. Already selling product in Europe. Deal agreed in China. Cash runway until next year. Should also see a good bump once US deals agreed this year. Though it's pharma on AIM so it's been bumpy and could continue to be.
All IMO, DYOR
One thing to bear in mind is that the majority of our competitors rapid antigen tests rely on antibodies to bind to the viral particles. One of the major advantages of Affimers is that they are cheaply and quickly produced and if the virus does mutate, new Affirmers specific to the new spike proteins can also be developed quickly. This is in startk contrast to the time and expense involved in finding and producing large quantities of antibodies
PCR is a technique which amplifies amplifies the signal of nucleic acids (DNA or RNA). As such it is extremely sensitive and therefore the gold standard. The sensitivity of the Avacta's antigen will depend on the concentration of antigens in the sample and for the time being remains unknown as mentioned by Dr Alistair Smith in one of the recent interviews.
Evening all,
I'd like to know your opinons on the following article:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/01/us-germ-warfare-lab-creates-test-for-pre-infectious-covid-19-carriers
I appreciate that this is a blood-based test, which by it's nature is not as convenient as that proposed by Avacta, but the ability to detect the virus within 24 hours of the infection is the first time I've come across an alternative test which has any characteristics which appear to outperform Avacta's. I still think there is a market for a quick, cheap saliva based test but it does suggest that it may have the potential to give false negatives if taken in the first days of infection.
With the number of other tests currently under development, many considerably further down the pipeline, there is a growing and ever more serious need for some concrete news on when Avacta's test can begin to undergo trials and come to market if this run is to continue. Obviously this does not take into account other very promising areas R&D going on at Avacta, but I do think it has the potential affect the opening price and gives pause for thought.
Ta