Novacyt gets British orders for coronavirus testing product

Paris and Camberley: Novacyt, an international specialist in clinical diagnostics, has provided an update regarding the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) test developed by Primerdesign, its molecular diagnostics division.

Following the completion of Public Health England's (PHE) formal evaluation of Primerdesign's COVID-19 test, as announced on 12 March 2020, the government agency has commenced ordering the test. Orders are initially for eight hospitals to provide stocks in those locations for four weeks of planned testing. The total value of the initial purchase is approximately £1.0 million (€1.1 million), which is the single largest order the Company has received to date for its COVID19 test.

As of 13 March 2020, Primerdesign has sold and received orders for over £3.7 million (€4.3 million) of its CE-Mark and research use only (RUO) COVID-19 tests, which includes the order received from PHE. This represents approximately eight months of sales for the division under normal circumstances. This is additional revenue to the core Novacyt business.

Graham Mullis, Chief Executive Officer of Novacyt, commented: "We welcome Public Health England's decision to use our COVID-19 test in the UK and I am delighted to see that Novacyt will now be supporting one of its home markets during these challenging times. The number of countries Novacyt is now supplying with its COVID-19 test has reached over 60 and we expect this will continue to increase.

The team at Novacyt and its key suppliers are working extremely hard to support clinicians around the world in the fight against this pandemic and, as a Chief Executive Officer, I am immensely proud of everyone's commitment."

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The Novacyt Group is an international diagnostics business generating an increasing portfolio of in vitro and molecular diagnostic tests. Its core strengths lie in diagnostics product development, commercialisation, contract design and manufacturing. The Company's lead business units comprise of Primerdesign and Lab21 Products, supplying an extensive range of high-quality assays and reagents worldwide. The Group directly serves microbiology, haematology and serology markets as do its global partners, which include major corporates.

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