A biotechnology company, Avacta Group, has announced that its AffiDX SARS-CoV-2 rapid lateral flow test detects B117, or Kent, variant, the D614G variant and the original strain, which are dominant COVID-19 variants.
Most viruses, SARS-CoV-2 virus included, mutate with time into slightly different variants. Some of these newly formed variants are more infectious as they transmit rapidly. They also can become dominant strains with time.
Not long after the viral pandemic started, a new variant, D614G, rapidly became a dominant strain globally. The new COVID-19 variant, B117, first observed in Kent, is common in the UK and has since been observed in over 50 countries in the world. According to Professor Sharon Peacock, a public health and microbiology professor at Cambridge University, the B117 is likely to become the next dominant strain in the world.
Having carried out analytical tests with the spike proteins isolated from both strains, B117 and D614G, Avacta confirmed that its AffiDX SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen lateral flow test detects the presences of these strains and the original strain.
The Chief Executive of Avacta Group PLC, Dr Alastair Smith, said, “We are pleased to confirm that Avacta’s rapid antigen test detects the B117 strain, an important variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and one which is especially prevalent in the UK. We have also shown that our test detects the D614G variant, the current dominant global strain.
Dr Smith added, “We will continue to monitor the performance of the Affimer reagents with future dominant variants as they become available to us. Since the Affimer reagents we use in Avacta’s range of SARS-CoV-2 tests do not bind in the spike protein region where the dominant mutations appear, we do not anticipate that the performance of the tests will be affected.
He further said, “Now that we have developed a robust lateral flow test architecture, we can easily insert Affimer reagents that can be very rapidly developed for new variants if necessary, and indeed in response to any other viral pandemic in the future.
The Chief Executive of Avacta Group also said, “Our next key milestone is full clinical validation and CE marking of our lateral flow antigen test, which we anticipate will be around the end of this quarter, and I look forward to updating the market; when that milestone is achieved.”
