BBI Solutions, part of the UK-Rapid Test Consortium (UK-RTC), has reached a ‘major milestone’ in the development of a COVID-19 lateral flow antibody test.
The UK-RTC has announced that it has reached design freeze for the test, which has been designed for people to use in their own homes.
The ‘major milestone’ means that the test meets the required performance characteristics and the production specifications of the assay, or laboratory procedure, have now been set. The next stage will see the scale-up of processes this month, in readiness for manufacture.
Tests carried out prior to reaching the design freeze stage reported a 98.6% accuracy. The UK-RTC is continuing to work with the regulatory authorities to ensure approval of the test as quickly as possible.
As part of its role within the Consortium, Crumlin-based BBI Solutions continues its work to optimise its smartphone based reader technology for this application.
BBI’s patented technology will guide users at home through performing a test before securely sharing the results directly with the NHS.
The process will help ensure that people who have never performed a test like this before get the right result and feel confident in understanding it, while making sure that the NHS receives all the data from each test to help them plan and manage the disease’s progression.
Dr Mario Gualano, Chief Executive of BBI Group, said: “BBI have been at the forefront of using mobile technology to support point of care testing and the transformation that new technologies bring to this market.
“We are delighted to be part of the solution; from developing key components of the test to supporting manufacturing capacity and providing this pivotal mobile technology that will enable diagnostics to be delivered on a scale the UK has never seen before.”
