Novacyt (AIM:NCYT ) has received approval from France's CNR arm of the Institut Pasteur, making its CE-Marked coronavirus test available for immediate distribution in France.
The international clinical diagnostics specialist also added that last week, it had also won approval for its COVID-19 test from Thailand's Ministry of Health.
“As an Anglo-French company, I am delighted that Novacyt is able to support both of its domestic markets in tackling this pandemic,” said Graham Mullis, CEO of Novacyt.
Since January, the Institut Pasteur, a French-based biomedical research centre, has devoted a portion of its research to understanding the emerging COVID-19 virus.
Shares in Novacyt were trading 7.24% higher at 207.5p during Monday morning.
“The Institut Pasteur's evaluation and approval of our COVID-19 test is an important validation and I am grateful to Atothis, our distribution partner in France, for its efforts in working with the centre,” added Mullis.
Novacyt’s Primerdesign COVID-19 test has received accreditation from a number of leading global regulatory authorities, including Public Health England and the US FDA.
The test kit is also available in markets which directly accept CE-Mark accreditation without the need for further approval.
The biotechnology firm said it had recently seen “unprecedented demand” with orders for the test product totalling over £17.8m as reported on Monday last week.
The novel coronavirus has infected more than 1.27 million people and killed over 69,000 worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University.
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