AnteoTech (ASX:ADO) says it has received the results of an independent validation study of its COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Test using stored patient swab samples.
The study was conducted by Spanish lateral flow developer and manufacturer Operon at their research facilities in Zaragoza. The company used locally acquired positive COVID-19 patient samples and a range of local negative samples.
AnteoTech said all the samples were PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) tested prior to the study enabling a direct head to head comparison of the performance of its COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Test against this lab-based testing process.
PCR testing is a lab-based process that analyses a sample via amplification techniques. For COVID-19 the PCR test seeks to detect the viral DNA associated with the virus to confirm a positive sample.
The company said it is continuing to work with Operon to generate more data that will enable it to accurately determine the lower limit of detection settings that will finalise a design freeze and enable progress to a clinical trial.
"This process will require further analysis of background readings of negative samples and collection of readings from more positive samples to provide a broader set of results on which to base our calculations," said the company.
AnteoTech’s CEO Derek Thomson said, “We are very pleased to have reached this key milestone in our development of the AnteoTech COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Test. The control of COVID-19 requires highly sensitive testing to ensure all positive patients are identified and isolated at the point of care to ensure they don’t continue to spread the disease.
"We believe we are making an important contribution to the control of the disease and we look forward to entering clinical trials following the final stages of our validation phase which we believe will lead to making our test available to global markets very soon.”