Avacta Group, Cambridge, UK, has entered into a collaboration agreement with Bruker Corporation, Billerica, Mass, to evaluate the Affimer-based, bead assisted mass spectrometry (BAMS) SARS-CoV-2 assay that the group has developed with Adeptrix, Beverley, Mass.
Bruker is one of the world’s leading analytical instrumentation companies providing high-performance scientific instruments and high-value analytical and diagnostic solutions to scientists globally. It is also one of the foremost suppliers of mass spectrometers with a significant number installed in clinical microbiology laboratories worldwide.
Avacta has worked with Adeptrix to develop a coronavirus antigen test that combines enrichment of the sample using Affimer reagents with the analytical power of mass spectrometry. Up to 1,000 samples per day can be analyzed by a single technician using a BAMS assay, exceeding the capacity of the commonly used PCR machines, making BAMS a potentially very attractive high-throughput technique for covid-19 screening in the clinical setting.
Having successfully developed a prototype test with Adeptrix, Avacta has been working with its clinical partners in the UK to refine the assay to fit into the typical workflows in a clinical microbiology laboratory. The collaboration with Bruker will assess the suitability of the test as a professional-use in vitro diagnostic (IVD) product for SARS-CoV-2 infection to run on Bruker’s Maldi-Tof instruments for sale in the UK and Europe.
“I am delighted to have established this collaboration agreement with Bruker to further develop the potential for the BAMS COVID-19 test as a clinical IVD,” says Alastair Smith, chief executive officer of Avacta Group. “We will be working closely with Bruker on the clinical assessment of the BAMS assay on Bruker’s Maldi-Tof instruments. I look forward to updating the market when we have definitive clinical performance data.”
For more information, visit Avacta.
