The world’s largest rapid Covid test maker to st
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The world’s fastest Covid-19 test maker will begin production in the UK, and the Wales plant will begin producing millions of tests a day this summer.
California-based Innova CEO Dan Elliott told the Financial Times that the company has made a large investment in the United Kingdom to create tests for domestic use and export. I’m doing it. ”
“The UK is an important market for us,” he said. “We were a good partner of the government and the government was our good partner.”
The government has relied heavily on Innova to support its vision for Moonshot testing, despite its ambition to strengthen its diagnostics department in the UK and the fact that the company is under close scrutiny of device accuracy.
It was Innova, owned by private-equity fund Pasaka Capital, has provided the United Kingdom with more than one billion tests created in Fujian, China, as part of a more than £3 billion contract.
According to publicly available contracts, the UK, Innova’s largest market for immunochromatography, has spent more than £ 100 million to ship these and other tests from China.
“We were ahead of our competitors not only in the development of these products, but also in large-scale scaling,” Elliott said, investing tens of millions of dollars early in the pandemic and hundreds of millions of dollars in late 2020. Said invested.
The company is increasing test production around the world, aiming to reach 50 million tests per day by the end of the year.
Elliott, president and senior partner of Pasaca Capital, told FT that he expects demand for immunochromatography to remain high for the next three to four years. “When you see it, the more we travel, the more varieties will be mixed,” he said.
However, Innova’s tests have questioned its accuracy and value in the UK. During the heyday of the pandemic, several studies found that 40-70 percent of cases of active infections found in gold standard PCR tests were identified.
“There is a lack of understanding of the difference between immunochromatography and PCR testing,” says Elliott. “PCR is a test to determine if you are infected, but LFD is [lateral flow device] It will tell you if you are infected. ”
Hundreds of UK-based diagnostics companies are vying for government contracts and are part of the £ 37 billion committed to the test and trace program. But so far, only one test can be offered in the UK (Derby-based SureScreen).
The UK has “built the largest test infrastructure in Europe through partnerships with industry, academia and local governments,” the Ministry of Health said.
“The UK is now established as a testing and diagnostic powerhouse with over 168.4 million tests. Collaboration remains a priority and everything that has helped create the Covid-19 test. Thank you very much to our manufacturers and suppliers. “
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