Update on progress of UK-Rapid Test Consortium29 Jun 2020 09:23
RNS Number : 2935R
Omega Diagnostics Group PLC
29 June 2020
OMEGA DIAGNOSTICS GROUP PLC
("Omega" or the "Company" or the "Group")
Update on progress of UK-Rapid Test Consortium
Design freeze of COVID-19 lateral flow antibody test
Omega (AIM: ODX), the medical diagnostics company focused on CD4, infectious diseases and food intolerance notes the Press Release issued today by UK Rapid Test Consortium ("UK-RTC") on developing a COVID-19 lateral flow antibody test ("COVID-19 Rapid Test") that can be used by people in their homes.
As announced on 9 April 2020, the Company signed a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") with Abingdon Health Limited, BBI Solutions Limited, CIGA Healthcare Limited, in conjunction with the University of Oxford to form the UK-RTC in order to jointly develop and manufacture a COVID-19 Rapid Test as part of the Government's five pillar national testing strategy for COVID-19.
Abingdon Health Limited, lead partner of the UK-RTC, has informed consortium members that it has attained design freeze for the COVID-19 Rapid Test. The next stage is for Abingdon Health to complete verification, validation, transfer the manufacturing protocols to consortium members and gain regulatory approval.
The transfer of the manufacturing process to Omega will enable it to undertake its own validation work to prove equivalent performance and to demonstrate the test can be manufactured at scale to meet the UK Government's demand. These activities will commence immediately, and the Company expects to complete this work by the end of August. Initially it is the Company's plan to produce 100,000 tests per week scaling up to 200,000 tests per week by the end of September. Based on demand for its wider COVID-19 test portfolio, Omega has flexibility in the utilisation of its overall manufacturing capacity so that more could be allocated to the UK-RTC if required.
The UK-RTC Press Release is provided in full at the end of this announcement.
Colin King, CEO of Omega commented: "This key milestone achievement in such a short timescale is a credit to the hard work put in by the consortium, especially Abingdon Health. We can now look forward with greater confidence in bringing this important test to market to support the UK and devolved Governments in their fight against this pandemic."
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