Abingdon Health’s COVID-19 rapid antibody test has earned its CE mark, for the detection of IgG antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. As a result, this means that the quick test is ready for distribution for professional use, and will be mass-produced, with tests prepared from the end of August. The test, named AbC-19 Rapid Test, can be given by healthcare professionals, including pharmacists, doctors, nurses and healthcare workers.

Following the thousands of tests which were distributed across several scale batches, the analysis has shown to be 99.40% accurate. Furthermore, the finger-prick examination reveals results in twenty-minutes, without the need of a sample to be sent to a lab.

“Abingdon Health’s COVID-19 rapid antibody test has earned its CE mark.“

Also, the test can assist in building a swift and precise picture of how the virus has spread throughout a large volume of populations, as well as help establish the effectiveness of any vaccine which protects by creating unique antibodies.

To mass-produce the volumes needed for the UK, Abingdon Health set up the UK Rapid Test Consortium, which brings together the UK’s largest rapid test medical manufacturers, who work collectively to provide capacity for the delivery of more than one-million tests every four weeks.

The company will start to ramp up the production of the rapid tests in August and will produce five-hundred thousand COVID-19 tests every four weeks from October, and then one-million every four weeks from January next year.

Chris Yates, Abingdon Health’s CEO, stated: “This UK designed, developed and manufactured high-quality rapid diagnostic test is a breakthrough for UK life sciences and a triumph of British business. It has been a company wide effort at Abingdon Health to achieve this milestone in such a short space of time. Our research and development teams have been working 2 shifts a day, 7 days a week, to develop the test. We have deployed nearly 15 times the number of people that would be on a typical project to deliver this test as quickly as possible.”

Professor Lawrence Young, University of Warwick Medical School virologist, stated: “A routine, reliable and easy to use test for COVID-19 antibodies will revolutionise our understanding of the Coronavirus infection. For the first time, it will allow us to get an accurate picture of who has been infected with the virus and help us to determine the level of protection induced by previous infection. it will also be a vital tool in determining the efficacy of any vaccine, particularly timely as some of the vaccines are now entering large scale phase 3 clinical trials.”

A GP at HaxbyGroup and Vice-chair at the RCGP, Professor Mike Holmes, stated: “The test is a real step forward - it’s safe, reliable and easy to use. I hope this will be welcomed by the public as vaccines become available."