Avacta Group (AIM:AVCT) said the diagnostic test it is developing with Adeptrix has now reached prototype stage and can detect the coronavirus spike at clinically relevant concentrations.
Avacta provided its reagents to Massachusetts-based, Adeptrix, to develop a Covid-19 lab test using the US firm’s proprietary bead-assisted mass spectrometry (BAMS) assay platform.
Specifically, the BAMS assay uses Affimer reagents specific to the SARS-COV-2 virus to capture the virus spike protein from the sample for rapid detection by mass spectrometry.
Avacta Group told investors this morning that a prototype assay has now been developed and evaluated by Adeptrix using model samples containing the coronavirus spike protein.
The group said that both the selectivity of the reagents alongside the precision and accuracy of mass spectrometry detection provides for ‘a very high degree of specificity in the assay.’
Shares in Avacta Group were trading 8.92% lower at 143p on Tuesday morning.
“This will keep us on track for the launch of a product for professional use in the summer,” said Dr Alastair Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Avacta Group.
The group described this next stage as a necessary step to develop a final product which can run on the installed base of mass spectrometers in clinical laboratories around the world.
Smith said using standard equipment that is available but not currently used for coronavirus testing will result in “contributing significantly to an increase in global testing capacity.”
Dr. Jeffrey C. Silva, Director of Product Development, Adeptrix Corporation said that future work would also include testing Affimer reagents to other SARS-COV-2 antigens.
He added that this will enable “configuration of a multiplexed BAMS assay to simultaneously monitor multiple viral proteins for added specificity in the case of future pandemics.”
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