Mologic accelerates development of Covid-19 testing kit to be used at home

A point-of-need diagnostic test is being accelerated through development in the hope of enabling people to test for Covid-19 at home.

Rapid diagnostic technology provider Mologic has announced it is working together with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and St Georges’ University London on the early validation of its Covid-19 testing kits.  

The company’s prototype Covid-19 antibody tests will be sent to leading laboratories on each continent in order for the tests to evaluated and independently assessed on their performance. Though the assessment and optimisation of the tests are being expedited, Mologic insists that any prototype device for Covid-19 will still need to be subjected to rigorous validation before it is made available for use.

The device allows users to test for exposure to Covid-19 at home or outside of a clinical settings and provides a result within 10 minutes. Mologic is working with the Institut Pasteur de Dakar to validate the Covid-19 test and manufacture at diaTROPiX, a new facility in Senegal. This will be the first time that a diagnostic kit created in the UK will be jointly manufactured in Africa, ensuring tests are available in settings with limited access to laboratory facilities.

The availability of fast, reliable diagnostics for Covid-19 has been one of the major barriers healthcare organisations have faced in controlling the pandemic.

Once ready, Mologic will sell the diagnostic test at cost to low-income settings to ensure affected countries have access to the kits during the crisis.

The accelerated development has been made possible by funding from UK Aid as part of the £46 million the UK government has announced so far for international Covid-19 prevention and research.

Professor Paul Davis, co-founder and chief scientific officer, Mologic, commented: “Completion of the first prototypes is a significant step in Mologic’s development of a rapid diagnostic test for Covid-19 and we are proud of our team’s achievement in reaching this point so quickly, while maintaining the most rigorous standards. Diagnostics are a critical weapon in the fight against this pandemic and, once ready, this test will enable affordable, more accurate and earlier diagnosis of infection, limiting the spread of the disease.”

International development secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan, said: “The UK has been at the heart of the global response to the coronavirus outbreak, investing heavily in the research and development of potential new tests and vaccines, including the work of world-class scientists across the UK. It is enormously encouraging to see the progress the British based lab Mologic, funded by UK aid, has already made to develop a reliable test for the virus, for use in the UK and around the world.” 

Dr Emily Adams, senior lecturer in Diagnostics for Infectious Disease, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, added: “We are extremely pleased to be working alongside Mologic and diaTROPiX on the evaluation and validation of rapid diagnostic tests for Covid-19. These tests could be a game changer for diagnosis and follow-up of patients both in hospital and in the community, allowing us to detect cases early and isolate patients and their families rapidly. Of course in low-resource settings, where we are starting to see cases, these are the only tests that are appropriate for use. We need to manufacture and deliver as soon as we possibly can”