London: Two new tests, both able to detect the novel coronavirus in just 90 minutes, will be rolled out to hospitals, care homes and laboratories across the UK to increase testing capacity and distinguish between COVID-19 and winter flu in the coming months, the British government said on Monday.
One of the tests, the 90-minute LamPORE swab tests, will be supplied by Oxford Nanopore, an Oxford University spin-off co-founded by Indian-origin CEO Gordon Sanghera, who believes it also offers an “accessible global testing solution”.
We are honoured to be playing a part in fighting COVID-19 in the UK, and preparing the country for the winter virus season. Ever since we founded Oxford Nanopore, our mission has been to create disruptive, high performance technology that has a profound, positive impact on society, Sanghera said.
Oxford Nanopore will be making 450,000 90-minute LamPORE swab tests available across adult care settings and labs in Britain from next week. These tests will be able to process swab and saliva samples to detect the presence of COVID-19 in 60 to 90 minutes.
LamPORE has the potential to deliver a highly effective and, crucially, accessible global testing solution, not only for COVID-19 but for a range of other pathogens. We are delighted to be working with the UK government to support and empower our communities to effectively manage testing at a national and localised level, added Sanghera.
The UK’s Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said the new test has the same sensitivity as the widely used PCR swab test, but can be used to process swabs in labs, as well as on-location through pop up labs. (PTI)
