COVID-19 diagnostic tests remain able to detect all published virus strains        

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        Jan 25 2021

Paris, France and Camberley, UK – 21 December 2020 – Novacyt (EURONEXT GROWTH: ALNOV; AIM: NCYT), an international specialist in clinical diagnostics, announces that following the detection of a new variant of COVID-19 by the UK’s COVID19 Genomics UK consortium, known as VUI-202012/01, the Company has carried out a detailed analysis of the mutations in this new variant and in all published COVID-19 strains to fully assess the reliability of its existing diagnostic tests.

Image Credit: Shutterstock/CKA

The results of the in silico (computer simulation) analysis of the sequenced mutations show that the Company’s polymerase chain reaction product portfolio, based around a single and a two gene target for COVID-19, remain able to detect all published COVID-19 strains with the same high level of accuracy, including VUI-202012/01.

The Company notes this new strain of the virus has also been identified in other countries, including the Netherlands, Denmark and Australia.

Graham Mullis, Chief Executive Officer of Novacyt, commented: “These data support the continued use of our tests, which remain accurate in detecting all published strains of COVID-19, including the latest variant. As part of our surveillance programme, we are committed to analysing our selected gene targets for COVID-19 against new published viral sequences to demonstrate ongoing accuracy and performance. We also remain in close contact with the Department of Health and Social Care and the NHS as we continue to focus our efforts on deploying our tests to hospitals and laboratories across the UK, as well as to our customers around the world.”

Contacts

Novacyt SA

Graham Mullis, Chief Executive Officer

Anthony Dyer, Chief Financial Officer

+44 (0)1276 600081

SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nominated Adviser and Broker)

Matthew Johnson / Charlie Bouverat (Corporate Finance)

Vadim Alexandre / Rob Rees (Corporate Broking)

+44 (0)20 3470 0470

Numis Securities Limited (Joint Broker)

Freddie Barnfield / James Black

+44 (0)20 7260 1000

Allegra Finance (French Listing Sponsor)

Rémi Durgetto / Yannick Petit

+33 (1) 42 22 10 10

r.durgetto@allegrafinance.com / y.petit@allegrafinance.com

FTI Consulting (International)

Victoria Foster Mitchell / Alex Shaw / Mary Whittow

+44 (0)20 3727 1000

victoria.fostermitchell@fticonsulting.com / alex.shaw@fticonsulting.com / mary.whittow@fticonsulting.com

FTI Consulting (France)

Arnaud de Cheffontaines

+33 (0)147 03 69 48

arnaud.decheffontaines@fticonsulting.com

About Novacyt Group

The Novacyt Group is an international diagnostics business generating an increasing portfolio of in vitro and molecular diagnostic tests. Its core strengths lie in diagnostics product development, commercialisation, contract design and manufacturing. The Company's lead business units comprise of Primerdesign and Lab21 Products, supplying an extensive range of high quality assays and reagents worldwide. The Group directly serves microbiology, haematology and serology markets as do its global partners, which include major corporates.

For more information please refer to the website: www.novacyt.com

Source:  Medical life Sciences News