RE: Mologic in Bedford6 Mar 2020 13:33
The UK government has promised £46m to fund urgent work to find a coronavirus vaccine and develop a rapid test for the disease.
This will include work on eight possible vaccines which are already in development as well as further research, the government said.
The funding will also support a lab in Bedford to develop a test that could provide results within 20 minutes.
But the test could still be six months away.
Similar to a pregnancy test, it would use a swab of saliva or a pinprick of blood. The lab already has experience of creating similar tests for Ebola, yellow fever and measles.
Existing tests can take a couple of days to provide results, as they rely on samples being sent away to a lab for analysis.
Government scientific advisers have already warned a working vaccine is unlikely to be ready in time for this current outbreak.