Brisbane company makes breakthrough with ‘high sensitivity’ virus testing
A Brisbane company has made a major breakthrough in the testing for COVID-19 that could detect the virus at very low levels.
Uniquest has sold its stake in Inflazome
AnteoTech, based at Eight Mile Plains, said it had progressed the development of a high-sensitivity antigen test to the end of the second phase and was now moving into design validation and clinical trials, which will start later this year.
It shares, which traded below 5 cents yesterday, rose 16 per cent in early trade.
If the clinical trials were successful AnteoTech said the test would be available within five to eight months.
The benefit of the AnteoTech system was its high sensitivity which could detect the virus at very low levels.
In a lab evaluation of the test kit there were 15 samples used.
Anteotech said its technology detected a strong positive from the 10 samples and a very low signal from the remainder.
“In essence, the AnteoTech COVID-19 antigen test worked perfectly (the) first time,” the company announced this morning.
“We stress that the testing protocol … was an initial validation taken on a very small sample size and will not be used for clinical evidence in regulatory approval.
“It does, however, confirm that the test in our view very successfully made the transition from recombinant sample research to operation using virus active samples. This confirms that our product has met design validation criteria and operates at high sensitivity.
“It provides us with confidence to move forward to clinical trial.”
Earlier this year the company said it had two rapid tests under development that would deliver tests results within 15 minutes. In July it said it had developed a proof-of-concept for two rapid tests – one using swabs and the other through blood samples – that could deliver results in about 15 minutes.
Manufacturing discussions for the test kits had started.
Chief executive Derek Thomson said AnteoTech was pleased with the progress.
“We believe we have a proven COVID_19 test with sensitivity far higher than we originally anticipated and this provides us with confidence that we can make a significant contribution to the fight against COVID-19.
“Our development program is on track and I thank the Life Sciences team for their continued commitment to the very important project.”
