A GWENT-based company are making the first round of coronavirus antibody tests for the UK Government.

BBI Solutions, based in Crumlin, has been selected as a partner for the UK Government’s first one million Covid-19 lateral flow rapid antibody tests.

The test, called the AbC-19 Rapid test, uses a small drop of blood from a finger prick and produces a result within 20 minutes – without the need to send it off to a laboratory.

It is currently used by healthcare professionals, and the UK Rapid Test Consortium (of which BBI Solutions is part) is seeking approval from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for self-test use.

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The order of the tests is part of the plans by the UK Government to build a picture of the spread of coronavirus across the country.

BBI Solutions chief executive Dr Mario Gualano said: “I am delighted that the UK-Rapid Test Consortium has now received its first contract from the UK Government for our Covid-19 lateral flow antibody test.

“We believe that the AbC-19 Rapid test has the immediate opportunity to allow the UK to build a swift and clear picture of how the virus has spread throughout the population. It also has the potential to be deployed in conjunction with vaccine candidates to help assess initial immune responses.”

BBI Solution’s rapid test development and expertise will be a main draw for the consortium at the Crumlin headquarters and their site in Edinburgh.

The company is also working with healthcare providers to produce and optimise a smartphone diagnostic reader to be used alongside the test which will guide users through the performance of the test, and will then securely provide the results to the user’s healthcare provider.

CRUMLIN-BASED BBI Solutions, a leading manufacturer of biological reagents and finished test platforms for the in-vitro diagnostics market, notes the press release issued by the UK Rapid Test Consortium (“UK-RTC”), of which BBI Solutions is a partner, on the UK Government’s first order for one million COVID-19 lateral flow antibody tests (the “AbC-19™ Rapid test”).