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Only if you are worried about the outcome - which I am not.

Dont think it’s an issue ndn - it’s an explanation for the delay

With the anxiety about the South African strain, I think that the delays to both our own cv and to the sovereign test are likely due to having to find enough B1351 cases - am pretty sure this is now seen as crucial in any validation.

Government confirmed on 12 February that current lfts would detect the South African variant and also referred to spike protein tests in development:

The VOC1 (Kent, UK) and VOC2 (South Africa) both contain multiple nucleotide changes across the genome which result in amino acid substitutions and other changes in different proteins. These include a large number of changes in the spike protein and a lesser number in the nucleocapsid protein. Whilst some lateral flow tests in development are using the spike protein, the majority of those tested use the nucleocapsid protein as the antigen target; these include the current lateral flow tests in use.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sars-cov-2-lateral-flow-antigen-tests-evaluation-of-voc1-and-voc2/sars-cov-2-lateral-flow-antigen-tests-evaluation-of-voc1-kent-uk-and-voc2-south-africa

We are probably going to be fine give our rns on the 8th of May - the dominant strains at that point would have included B1351:

Since the Affimer reagents we use in Avacta’s range of SARS-CoV-2 tests do not bind in the region of the spike protein where the dominant mutations appear, we do not anticipate that the performance of the tests will be affected
https://avacta.com/avactas-rapid-antigen-test-is-confirmed-to-detect-sars-cov-2-new-variants/

But it suggests sir Al may still be frantically conducting house to house tests in South London rather than putting the finishing touch on that RNS everyone is waiting for.

Yes they’re clearly getting ready for a launch

The change of emphasis from selling lft test products to providing reagents is interesting though - but maybe the products page will reappear tomorrow after the cv results are in....

There is also increased recognition that all mutations and variants actually appear very similar and happen in the same locations https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-coronavirus-variants-dont-seem-to-be-highly-variable-so-far/
So perhaps targeting the s protein isn’t really a problem from a mutation point of view.

Quite a lot of useful discussion about the delay to cv of the avacta branded test - ultimately nothing to worry about I think but definitely frustrating.
Less discussed are the reasons behind the delay to the sovereign test - we are leading its development with Mologic but it’s not managed by us. I don’t really buy the arguments about this being down to porton down incompetence. My experience with government contract delays is that this is almost always due to government clients moving the goalposts. I reckon that when it does appear (and the signed contracts with odx and gad would seem to suggest it is close) that it may surprise. Perhaps it will be a 2nd gen test combining S&N to achieve specificity plus sensitivity good to enough to open up travel. Or perhaps a test that can simultaneously detect multiple variants....

I had as well Timster, worth a recap: As part of developing home testing capability, the supplier has been requested to provide a proof of concept relating to image recognition technology that could be used to read the results of home tests and convey these test results back to DHSC

Yes and seen by govt previously....
https://bidstats.uk/tenders/2020/W50/740622567

One of the reasons we are buying from Innova is almost certainly because we are competing with other governments across the globe for tests such as the Abbot test. And last month when the govt were planning ahead for mass testing the entire population weekly, it would have seemed entirely sensible to contract for a large amount to secure supplies but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are looking to take delivery of everything at the same time - they would have been looking to create a buffer alongside the sovereign supply. Nothing worse than promising free lfts and then not being able to deliver.

This one? https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/0e2237f3-e917-4957-9711-6de1c33be75d

Its not even clear whether lateral testing is covered by the dps - the answers seem to conflict each other

I reckon we are most likely going to be awarded contracts under the recent 4bn Consumables Reagents and Equipment DPS (assuming clinical validation is a success)

https://bidstats.uk/tenders/2021/W10/746389838

Been looking at the questions and answers for that procurement and what really stands out is the complete confusion amongst potential bidders as to what they are being asked to deliver

https://health-family-contract-search.secure.force.com/servlet/servlet.FileDownload?retURL=%2Fapex%2FProSpend__CS_ContractPage%3FsfdcIFrameOrigin%3Dnull&file=00P4J00000GTUCOUA5

Looks to me like a classic government procurement where the winners or at least the bidders have been identified and contacted before the actual procurement exercise.

I would love to think it’s not a backup but as pointed out by bbn on Twitter - why did Mologic not yet publish any additional clinical data since December?

I think it absolutely is a backup - that’s why contracts have been awarded to the two companies that can produce both tests. But equally the longer the govt hold back from actually producing the Mologic test the more likely it will ultimately be us. And the quicker test is likely to be us as well.

@soleboy bbi have been instrumental in the conversion to nasal anterior and I think are probably the main architects of the manufacturing blue print. Perhaps ask Alistair next time you see him?

Not really a climb down - any statement of being the best test has always referred to the best ‘spike protein’ test

Not sure how independent the clinical trials are run and to what extent Sir Al will be told about any test failures as they happen but you would think he gets to hear about them real-time - yet he still sounds as bullish as ever....
Worth rereading the huff post article when trying to make sense of all the conflicting messages - remember the only correction Avacta made in its rns was that the test was nasal anterior rather than saliva.
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/m.huffingtonpost.co.uk/amp/entry/five-minute-covid-test-nightclubs-moonshot-plan_uk_602fee6fc5b67c32961d49aa/

Up to now everyone has been agreeing that there will be plenty of demand for all U.K. lft test producers. Perhaps we need to revise that. There are still lots of unknowns but my take on the current situation is this:

1 The ‘sovereign’ test is a separate government (pa consulting) led exercise to manufacture a U.K. test to a common spec across a range of manufacturers in the U.K. The recent ODX and GAD manufacturing awards are related to this initiative.

2 The DPS 8bn procurement is for branded lft tests in addition to the sovereign supply. The recent ODX and GAD manufacturing awards are not related to this. The idea behind this procurement is to make up any shortfall in sovereign supply if needed, but also to provide a competitive comparison to justify expenditure under the sovereign supply. And I suppose it will allow the government to buy a revolutionary 3rd party test should one come to market unexpectedly.

I reckon that most manufacturing capacity in the U.K. is currently reserved for the sovereign test. Explains why recent Avacta communications about U.K. capacity for the Avacta branded test is rather modest. I do still very much think that the sovereign test is based on Affimers - initial results for our test beat Mologic. But I also think that the government are deliberately keeping the make up of that test fluid - medium term it may migrate to the combined Avacta/Mologic super test but in the short term all will depend on final S&S results - and hence the vast majority of the U.K. manufacturing capacity may pivot between Avacta and Mologic....

So should clinical results disappoint a bit, its all very well to say we can just sell internationally but if our manufacturing capacity is curtailed by Boris then that becomes an issue. Perhaps Medusa could come to our rescue....

In the other hand if results go our way, the available capacity may go way beyond what anyone is expecting right now.....

Are you referring to yourself lunchcrop? Sounds like you’re hoping to buy in tomorrow