Last Sentence in Answer to Q452 Nov 2020 19:50
Q45: Who do you see as your nearest competitor?
In terms of the COVID-19 antigen test, there are antigen tests being developed all over the world. In order for a test to be competitive with the lateral flow test we are developing it must be able to be used as a self-test (as well as a professional test), must give results in minutes and not hours, be capable of being read by eye (and/ or smart phone app) and, strictly speaking, should be based on saliva as a sample (although nasal swab based tests are also competitive to a large extent). PCR is therefore not competitive, nor is any method that needs sophisticated laboratory-based equipment to process or read the test. Our view is that there is such a huge demand for rapid antigen testing that there could be many “competitive” tests launched and the demand would still likely out-strip supply, so we are not concerned about competition in the normal commercial sense in this case.