Further re Paraytec Limited

RNS Reach announcement (non-regulatory)

3 September 2020

Braveheart Investment Group plc

("Braveheart" or the "Group")

Further re Paraytec Limited

Further to its announcement on 5 August 2020, Braveheart is pleased to provide an update concerning the development of a COVID-19 test that Paraytec Limited is conducting with the University of Sheffield.

WP3 Development of the Signal Generation Module

Having previously completed workpackages 1 & 2 which have dealt with the construction of a viral mimic and the CAPTURE system for Paraytec's COVID-19 test, development of the Signal Generation Module is complete. At the heart of the Signal Generation module is a synthetic COVID-19 virus binding protein molecule which has now been isolated and bonded to fluorescent nanospheres.

WP5 Development of Optical Detection system

Work has been initiated and continues to progress on building the Optical Detection system. This will be used to detect and quantify fluorescent nanospheres that bind the CAPTURE Module in the presence of SARS-nCov2 virus. In order to evaluate the operating characteristics of the system, Paraytec has built CAPTURE microspheres coated with appropriate fluorescent SIGNAL GENERATION components for the purposes of visualisation and quantitation. In the test, optical detection of fluorescently labelled microspheres is achieved using a very high sensitivity photodiode that responds to a single photon of light, to generate an "avalanche" of electrons, registering the presence of viral particles.

Professor Carl Smythe commented, "We are pleased with Paraytec's continued progress in building this rapid test. A key issue associated with COVID-19 testing will be the detection of disease in people who have very low levels of viral particles in swab or saliva samples. By using a highly sensitive detection system, the test will maximise the potential to detect asymptomatic carriers of the virus. Over the next month, we will be undertaking proof-of-concept testing, which we hope to complete by early October."

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