Abingdon Covid test is ‘highly accurate’

The York-based firm said the study was performed by scientists at Public Health England and the Universities of Bristol, Warwick and Cambridge.

The research examined the performance of four lateral flow rapid antibody tests using the same batch of samples.

Abingdon said that although the study remains subject to peer review, it shows that AbC-19TM is highly accurate when tested on samples that have previously proved positive for the virus.

Professor Chris Molloy, chair of the UK Rapid Test Consortium, said: “This research on the different use cases for lateral flow antibody tests is welcome.

“The AbC-19TM test is an important weapon in the global fight against Covid-19. It allows us to see the neutralising IgG antibodies produced in response to infection, or after vaccination.”

All the devices that were tested in the university study had an accuracy level of over 92 per cent, but Abingdon’s AbC-19TM test showed the highest accuracy at 97.3 per cent.

Abingdon said accuracy is an important value which is derived from the number of false positive and false negative results in the population being tested combined with prevalence. It said no test is 100 per cent accurate.

Following its flotation in December, which raised total proceeds of £22.2m, Abingdon is planning to expand both its York and Doncaster sites.