As governments across Europe end free tests, infectious disease experts are calling for vigilance and investment in transmission of the COVID virus. To answer this call, Abingdon Health, a manufacturer of lateral flow tests, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with healthtech company Vatic Health.
Initially Abingdon and Vatic will focus on the development of an influenza LFT and will utilise Vatic’s technology platform that looks for the presence of the live virus by identifying proteins via their surface biological mechanisms.
Following signing of the MoU, Abingdon and Vatic intend to enter into a longer-term commercial agreement. Both parties developing infectious disease LFTs, Abingdon exclusively manufacturing these LFTs and both parties collaborating on the commercialisation of these innovative new products.
Dr Mona K. Omir, CTO Vatic Health Limited said: “This partnership with Abingdon Health gives us the opportunity to scale our novel technology by applying it to a new platform with the aim of developing and manufacturing a mutation-proof influenza test. As an Oxford-based start-up, it’s exciting to be partnering with another British company committed to improving global health.”
The underpinning technology has been proven in the development of Vatic’s KnowNow test (Spike Test in USA) a saliva COVID-19 Spike Protein test which identifies the virus by mimicking the surface of a human cell. This means the test only identifies “live” or “active” copies of the virus which are capable of cell entry and thereby infect a human cell.
Other tests, such as PCR and lateral flow antigen tests, can pick up harmless viral fragments with the potential for users to test positive after the end of the window during which they are infectious.
The test is likely to be important for business owners within employer-led testing infrastructure and, on approvals, for self-testing in the consumer healthcare space from pharmacies and e-commerce. Highly accurate and sensitive testing will maintain awareness to determine how much of the virus is around – to manage workforce infection and unnecessary isolation and support people in vulnerable categories to get treatment early in infection.
Furthermore, the detection mechanism of the KnowNow Test has been purposefully designed from the ground up to be far more robust to mutation than traditional antigen tests, making it more future-proofed for ongoing COVID-19 testing.
This technology will be applied to the development of an influenza LFT and could have the same potential benefits in terms of accuracy and picking up those that are infectious; differentiating it from other commercially available tests.
Vatic has recently submitted an Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the COVID-19 Home Spike Test. The clinical testing data submitted has shown very high sensitivity (93% (40/43, 93% CI: 80.9-98.5%)), and 100% clinical specificity (31/31, 95% CI: 88.8-100%), using saliva (mouth) swabs rather than nasal swabs, with the testing having taken place at the height of the Omicron wave in the U.S.
The KnowNow Test’s technology is CE marked and MHRA registered for professional use across the UK and the EU.
Chris Yates, CEO of Abingdon Health plc. said: "We are delighted to be deepening our partnership with the Vatic Health team to deliver a range of next generation infectious disease lateral flow self-tests. We firmly believe the self-test lateral flow market is poised for significant growth as people embrace the use of cost-effective, easy-to-use lateral flow tests which empower them to manage their own health.”
Alex Sheppard, CEO Vatic Health Limited added: "We are excited to be deepening our collaboration with Abingdon Health and we look forward to extending the use of our proprietary technology from COVID-19 into other areas of unmet need to further address inequalities of access to health information through self-tests. This partnership is an important step on our journey to helping more people get key insights into their health at home.”
