London-listed biotechnology group Novacyt (AIM:NCYT)  has invested in “a significant increase” in manufacturing capacity to support the growing demand for its COVID-19 test by appointing a European-based third-party manufacturer.

The combination of the two manufacturing operations is expected to up to 2 million COVID-19 tests per month, increasing capacity by a factor of 10. 

This morning, the company reported that its subsidiary, Primerdesign, has sold and received orders for over £2.3 million of its CE-Mark and research use only COVID-19 tests, generating “significant” revenue.

This represents around five months of additional revenue to the core Novacyt business since the launch of the CE-Mark and research tests earlier this year on 31 January and 17th February, respectively.

Shares in Novacyt were trading 15.81% higher at 124.5p during Thursday trading.

In the past two weeks, the number of countries buying the COVID-19 test has doubled to over 50, with the number expected to increase further as the virus continues to spread.

“We believe the commercial demand for and interest in our COVID-19 test could continue for several months as the virus continues to spread from country to country,” said Graham Mullis, CEO of Novacyt.

As Novacyt sees significant sales from Europe and a number of new and existing distribution partners across the Middle East, the Directors’ key focus remains ensuring Primerdesign can service the demand from as many customers as possible.

Novacyt said an evaluation report of its COVID-19 test will be shared with the NHS to support their decisions for testing across the UK and that the group is still awaiting regulatory approval from the US FDA.

Mullis said Novacyt is “fully prepared” to meet the increasing demand for the product and that the group continues to position itself “to support the global response to monitor and contain the COVID-19 outbreak.”

On Wednesday, the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic as the coronavirus continues to rapidly spread across the world.

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