Braveheart Investment Group PLC (LON:BRH) said its investee company Paraytec’s work to develop a COVID-19 test is “proceeding at pace”.
Paraytec, which is developing the test with the University of Sheffield, has acquired purified SARS-CoV2 virus, which Braveheart said will be used to optimise both the lower limit and speed of detection, with the aim of detecting virus in asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic patients.
Approval has been obtained from the Sheffield Hospitals Trust to test up to 500 clinical samples using the PCR approach to “unambiguously demonstrate the performance characteristics of the COVID-19 test”, it said.
Braveheart expects first results by the end of January 2021, at which time it will provide a further update.
Noting recent media reports about the underperformance of various single-use lateral flow test devices undergoing trials around the UK, the company said it “is committed to developing a test which achieves the performance parameters specified by the Medical Health Regulatory Authority and delivers a test result in five minutes”.
Paraytec has confirmed that its virus capture technology will now be applied to the development of both the optical measurement system and a lateral flow device.
