Omega Diagnostics (ODX ) has noted a press release issued today by the UK Rapid Test Consortium ("UK-RTC"), of which Omega is a partner, welcoming a preprint publication reviewing performance data on rapid antibody tests including its AbC-19TM Rapid Test. 

The study was performed by scientists at Public Health England, who are funding the publication, and the Universities of Bristol, Warwick and Cambridge. Together, they examined the performance of four lateral flow rapid antibody tests using the same cohort of samples. 

The study showed the AbC-19 test to be ‘highly accurate’ when tested on samples from individuals previously positive for the virus by PCR and from samples collected pre-pandemic. 

All devices tested demonstrated accuracy of above 92% with Omega’s AbC-19 TM Rapid Test showing the highest accuracy at 97.3%. The study remains subject to peer review. 

Shares in Omega Diagnostics have increased by over 60% in value over the past three months. The stock was trading 3.75% higher this morning at 83p following the news.  

The AbC-19 rapid test confirms the presence of SARS-CoV-2 IgG neutralising antibodies to the spike protein of the COVID-19 virus in a small blood sample. These antibodies may be produced as part of the body's immune response following infection or post-vaccination.  

The antibodies not only bind to a virus, but they ‘bind in a manner that blocks infection.’ 

Commenting on the published study, Professor Chris Molloy, Chair of the UK-RTC, said:  

"This research on the different use cases for lateral flow antibody tests is welcome. The AbC-19 TM test is an important weapon in the global fight against COVID-19. It allows us to see the neutralising IgG antibodies produced in response to infection, or after vaccination." 

Last week, Omega confirmed that it had won a contract with the Department of Health and Social Care ("DHSC") to manufacture COVID-19 lateral flow antigen tests, as part of the UK Government's well publicised target of producing two million lateral flow tests per day.  

The intention is that as soon as the DHSC has access to a test that has successfully passed a performance evaluation, the test will be licensed for ODX to manufacture. DHSC will loan a number of key pieces of manufacturing equipment to enable ODX to expand its capacity.  

By facilitating the necessary expansion in production capability in ODX’s Alva-based facility, this will ensure that the COVID-19 lateral flow tests are made available ‘as soon as possible.’  

Omega said it will be able to produce c.2 million tests a week by the end of April when combining the Government-loaned equipment with its own manufacturing equipment.  

Omega said the significant contribution to its future performance expected as a result of the DHSC contract above ‘will impact the new financial year ending 31 March 2022.’  

Group revenue is expected to be c.£9.3m with an EBITDA loss in the region of £2.1m- £2.3m. Despite the considerable investment in the scaling-up of its production capacity, the year-end cash position is expected to be in the region of £5.5m to £6m (FY20: £0.6m overdraft).  

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