Scalable, sustainable and cost-effective antigen manufacturing platform for a rapid mobilisation during the current Covid-19 pandemic and possible future outbreaks

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The 21st century ushered the advent of coronaviral pandemics such as SARS in 2002-2004, MERS in 2012-2018 and presently Covid-19\.These infections killed hundreds of thousands of people yet we do not know how to treat or prevent them. Our inability to identify people affected by Covid-19, has led to the spread of the infection on a global scale, causing thousands of deaths on a daily basis. Desperate lockdown measures to stop the pandemic brought many countries and vast geographical regions to a standstill. All these overwhelming effects of Covid-19 could be minimised if not completely prevented by timely and accurate ways to detect the infection.Antigen and antibody detection tests are such methods which can detect the current or past viral infection and are indispensable for the control of Covid-19 spread. However, the development and production of reliable tests require time and the availability of their key components -- viral fragments produced recombinantly. The global scale of pandemic puts a massive strain on the science and industry to supply this key component of diagnostic tests.At the time of writing, there have been 20 SARS-CoV2 antibody kits received Emergency Use Authorisation by Food and Drug Administration, FDA. None of those originated in the UK.Immense pressure on the Government to enable laboratory-based mass serological testing has hastened the adoption of the inferior quality kits sourced from abroad, the performance of which would have been found to be unacceptable in non-pandemic circumstances. Domestic industry can and must turn the tide.Daresbury Proteins will create a sustainable production platform and deploy their technology to manufacture much-needed quality antigens in the shortest timeframe to expedite the production of reliable and affordable Covid-19 testing kits. The availability of such a scalable and cost-effective platform will eliminate any issues with supply chain in the future and warrant a world-leading position of domestic diagnostic industry.