NEW YORK – Rapid test developer Abingdon Health and BioSure UK said on Wednesday that they have signed a non-exclusive sales and distribution agreement for Abingdon's rapid SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody test, AbC-19.
Under the agreement, the companies will establish a strategic distribution relationship to determine opportunities to sell the test in the UK and Europe, prioritizing healthcare, workplace, and pharmacy settings.
Financial and other terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The lateral flow test is designed to detect immunoglobulin G antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 from a finger prick blood sample and returns results in 20 minutes.
"Where antibody tests were once predominantly used for charting the spread of infection within communities, today they emerging as a key pillar of large-scale immunization campaigns," Abingdon CEO Chris Yates said in a statement. "Rapid antibody tests such as AbC-19 that target the full trimeric spike can help policymakers and healthcare networks further understand immunity to COVID-19 and the effectiveness of vaccine programs."
The test, which received CE marking in July, was developed by the UK Rapid Test Consortium, founded last April by Abingdon, BBI Solutions, Omega Diagnostics, CIGA Healthcare, and the University of Oxford.
In October, the UK government ordered one million of the antibody tests for use in surveillance studies of SARS-CoV-2.