Yorkshire developer teams up with Boohoo billionaire to create Covid-19 test

Wetherby-based Avacta said the test should give a result within minutes and is designed for use by both healthcare professionals and consumers around the world.

The deal is with Medusa19, which was set up by Mr Kamani and financier Richard Hughes (both founder shareholders of Boohoo.com and shareholders of Avacta), to build a global consumer self-testing business.

Avacta recently announced a partnership with life sciences giant Cytiva to develop a saliva-based rapid antigen test to indicate whether a person has the Covid-19 infection.

The group has now agreed an exclusive distribution agreement with Medusa19 for the supply of the Covid-19 rapid test direct to consumers globally, subject to the necessary regulatory approvals.

Medusa19’s initial focus will be on Covid-19 home testing and it is investing in global e-commerce, logistics and customer support infrastructure in preparation for Avacta’s Covid-19 test launch.

Medusa19 will also have non-exclusive rights to supply the tests to businesses for workforce testing. The distribution agreement includes a profit sharing arrangement.

Avacta said the global demand for rapid antigen tests, which will be critical to lockdown exit strategies around the world in order to get healthy, non-contagious people back to work, could be many millions of tests per month. There will also be an ongoing need for several years for this type of testing as the disease recurs.

Avacta recently announced that it had rapidly developed Affimer reagents that detect the SARS-COV-2 virus spike protein and it has now supplied these to Cytiva for test development. Affimers are Avacta's high-tech alternative to antibodies.

Avacta intends to sign up more rapid test strip manufacturing partners in anticipation of a very high demand for the Covid-19 antigen test.

Dr Alastair Smith, chief executive of Avacta, said: “I am delighted to have entered into this distribution agreement with Medusa19, which will provide a global route direct-to-consumer for Avacta’s rapid point-of-care Covid-19 antigen test.

"The potential size of this market, and the expected demand from businesses for workforce screening, is substantial."

He said the significant investment that Medusa19 is making, in conjunction with the track records of the Medusa19 team, gives him great confidence in the rapid growth of direct-to-consumer sales of the Avacta Covid-19 test across the UK, the European Union and the US, subject to the necessary regulatory approvals.

"I expect the commercial impact of this partnership to be very significant to Avacta," he added.

Mr Hughes and Mr Kamani, founders of Medusa19, said: "We immediately recognised the global opportunity to distribute the simple and unique saliva-based Covid-19 rapid test being developed by Avacta based on their unique and powerful Affimer platform."

Medusa19 will enable end-to-end supply of the tests on a global basis, subject to regulatory approval and manufacturing capacity which will be key.

The pair added: "The enormous, world-wide demand for these tests requires a robust and scalable platform which we are in the process of creating. Hundreds of millions of tests are required and this demand will continue.

"The test being created by Avacta and its partners is intended to enable an individual with the Covid-19 infection, whether they have symptoms or not, to be identified before antibodies have been generated by the body.

"Given this test will be saliva based, it could be used in airports, offices, factories and in the home environment, providing a result within minutes and with no requirement for medical supervision. It is potentially ground-breaking and a major step forward in the fight against Covid-19."