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COVID-19 antibody testing kit launched by Forth
Healthcare firm Forth has launched its new COVID-19 antibody testing kit onto the UK market. It is the first to meet the MHRA guidelines and be made available to the public.
The finger prick test is laboratory analysed to check for the presence of COVID-19 IgG antibodies which develop after exposure to the virus. The kit meets the required MHRA guidelines of more than 98 per cent specificity and sensitivity, and has CE marking. All kits can be purchased online with the samples taken in the home or workplace, before being sent away for analysis, and is currently available for over 18s.
Forth has worked with accredited laboratory, Eurofin, to develop the home testing kits. The IgG antibodies are thought to be made by healthy individuals in response to exposure to the virus as an ‘immune response’. These antibodies reach 100 per cent detectability 20 days after the onset of symptoms, meaning Day 20 is the recommended test date. The test will not tell if the tester currently has coronavirus as that is done using a PCR swab test. However a positive result will suggest a past infection of COVID-19, and a negative result will mean that no COVID-19 antibodies have been detected at the time of collecting the sample. If the test is done before 20 days post onset of symptoms, there is a risk of a false negative if the body hasn’t had enough time to generate the antibodies.
From the point of receipt of the sample, Forth aims to have the results processed and returned to the tester within two working days. Personalised results are accessed through their secure dashboard. The new kits extend Forth’s range of home health check tests including male and female
“Helping people look after their health is our core passion and purpose. Clearly with the global pandemic, personal health care has been heightened beyond anyone’s expectation. As soon as we entered this crisis we knew we wanted to make a positive contribution in helping to defeat this disease. We are grateful to our lab partners and our team who have worked hard to make this available as soon as it met the high validation criteria set out by the MHRA. The results are for information purposes to better understand our bodies. This complements what is provided by the NHS and other health services. That way we can all begin to plan for our own healthcare with more knowledge than before.” Sarah Bolt CEO and co-founder Forth
hormones, nutri check, Vitamin D and Immunity check as well as their baseline kit.
It is recommended that interested buyers read all the information before purchasing. Forth has developed a comprehensive Q&A resource to respond to the public’s queries. The kit retails at £89 and due to lab safety protocols it is one item per transaction.
www.forthwithlife.co.uk
IMSPEX: Can coronavirus be detected in breath?
IMSPEX Diagnostics Ltd is an SME based in the South Wales valleys. They were established in 2011 as a spin-off of the University of South Wales and have been driving innovation in the health care sector ever since. IMSPEX has pioneered many research projects over the years, seeking to reduce overprescription of antibiotics, to detect Alzheimer’s disease, lung cancer and sepsis, among many other difficultto-diagnose conditions. They are now turning their expertise to detecting coronavirus.
The company has been developing Gas Chromatography-Ion Mobility Spectrometry (GC-IMS) for many years. Recently, they obtained €3.3 million, as part of a Horizon 2020 project, to develop their BreathSpec technology for distinguishing between viral and bacterial respiratory tract infections. The aim of this was to reduce overprescription of antibiotics and tackle antimicrobial resistance. The findings from this project and extensive national consortium are now being written up for publication in peer-reviewed scientific journals and will inform future studies in the field.
IMSPEX’s BreathSpec technology is uniquely positioned to be deployed throughout pandemics such as coronavirus. It is a non-invasive approach which does not require nasal or throat swabbing like present tests. A patient simply exhales into the mouthpiece and the breath sample is analysed by the system. The ability to deploy the BreathSpec at the point of care removes the need for samples to be sent to the laboratory for analysis. The UK government’s current goal is to have test results back within one to two days. However, there are reports of people waiting double the expected time. Therefore, the BreathSpec will improve result turnaround time, with results available in less than 10 minutes.
IMSPEX identified the potential of their technology for Coronavirus testing early on, so partnered with several NHS sites and universities, including Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Loughborough University, Leicester Royal Infirmary and University of Warwick, to determine whether the BreathSpec can be used for detecting coronavirus.
Trials using the BreathSpec have already begun and will continue for the foreseeable future. The preliminary findings of the trials show promise and it is hoped that the findings will continue to be positive.
