Coronavirus testing: screen saver | Financial Times

Cheap, rapid coronavirus tests are ready for prime time. Germany is about to offer them to all citizens for free. They will play a role in new US president Joe Biden’s plans to tackle the pandemic. UK prime minister Boris Johnson suggests testing clubbers and theatregoers. Hundreds of workplaces are screening employees. 

Unfortunately, “lateral flow” tests, which detect specific proteins known as antigens on the surface of the virus, are not as sensitive as those that look for the virus’s genetic material. Some believe they confer a false sense of security and do more harm than good. But their ability to spot asymptomatic cases make them a useful screening tool. 

Supplying tests is already a lucrative business. The UK has spent £1.5bn so far and last month closed a tender worth a further £912m. Antigen tests pushed up profitability by about 5 percentage points in Siemens Healthineers’ diagnostic division in the latest quarter, as well as helping to boost sales by nearly 25 per cent. Large suppliers such as Roche and Abbott reported uplifts in sales.

But small companies were quick off the mark. A self-testing kit developed by Australia’s privately owned Ellume was the first to be authorised by US regulators. UK-based Avacta’s share price jumped by a fifth on Tuesday on encouraging data from its rapid antigen test. Aim-listed artificial intelligence company Sensyne Health has just inked a deal with UK group Excalibur Healthcare Services to improve its test’s sensitivity by picking up results invisible to the naked eye.

News of vaccine breakthroughs last November buffeted the shares of small diagnostics companies. But the path of the pandemic is far from certain, meaning it is not too late for investors to back suppliers. Abbott expects demand for antigen testing to be sustained for longer than pricier tests. Hopes of rapidly reaching herd immunity have dipped with the emergence of new variants. Continued vigilance — and routine testing — are likely to prove essential.

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