Prime Minister, Boris Johnson visits Newcastle-based QuantuMDx
- QuantuMDx has developed Q-POC™ - a rapid, PCR diagnostic device for coronavirus testing at the point of care
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, UK, 13 February 2021. QuantuMDx Group Limited, a UK-based diagnostics company which has developed a revolutionary 30 minute PCR diagnostics device, Q-POC™, and accompanying SARS-CoV-2 test, today welcomed the Prime Minister, Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP, for a tour of its purpose-built HQ in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Q-POC™ is an innovative portable, Polymerase Chain Reaction (‘PCR’) device offering lab-standard diagnostic testing as the patient waits, with swab-to-result in 30 minutes. This is the same time as a lateral flow test but with PCR accuracy. The Q-POCTM has been designed for rapid PCR testing in clinical settings to ensure the safety of our NHS frontline healthcare workers.
The simple-to-use test (insert cassette and press go) will be rolled out in a wide range of settings – from emergency rooms, hospital triage ICU, test-and-trace initiatives to pharmacies and clinics – rapidly and without the need for a laboratory. The Q-POC™ has just completed its evaluation by the Technology Validation Group (TVG) of the NHS and results will be published shortly.
The Q-POC™ device was designed and is now manufactured in the UK, representing the best of British innovation. This was made possible with a £16m grant from Her Majesty’s Government, which allowed the company to accelerate its manufacturing programme.
The Q-POC™ system has this week been made available for research use only (RUO) and the company expects to receive CE-IVD marking in the summer. As the device represents a significant advance on rapid and portable PCR testing, the company is anticipating strong sales and is already in talks with a wide range of customers including airports, private healthcare, pharmacies and overseas health ministries.
The company’s first commercial test for Q-POC™ will detect SARS-CoV-2 and all known variants, including South African, Kent and Brazil.
Jonathan O’Halloran, Chief Executive, QuantuMDx, said:
“We were delighted to welcome the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP, to QuantuMDx today and we are grateful for his and the government’s support. The funding we received at the beginning of this pandemic has enabled us to rapidly accelerate the scale up of our Q-POC™ system for SARS-CoV-2 testing. Having the ability to run a rapid diagnostic swab test as the patient waits will provide the diagnostic silver bullet for hospital triage, A&E, ICU, business continuity, track and trace, and many more settings.”
“The deployment of Q-POC™ at the point of care will provide another important tool in the battle against the coronavirus pandemic and will ensure an installed base of best-in-class point of care molecular diagnostics across healthcare systems worldwide. We will use this installed base to launch more tests to ensure that an investment in Q-POCTM is a legacy investment that will provide rapid, high quality testing to patients long after the pandemic is over.”
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About QuantuMDx:
QuantuMDx Group is an ambitious company with a global vision of empowering the world to control and eradicate disease by making transformative, quality point-of-care diagnostic technologies universally accessible. QuantuMDx has operations and strategic partnerships in the United States, Asia, Australasia, Europe and Africa – keeping it at the forefront of molecular diagnostics. For more information go to: www.quantumdx.com
For media enquiries:
Debra Daglish, Marketing Communications Manager, QuantuMDx Group, 0870 803 1234
Chris Gardner, Matthew Neal and Lindsey Neville, Consilium Strategic Communications, 0203 709 5700
For investor enquiries:
Financial Adviser: WG Partners LLP; David Wilson (020 3705 9315), Nigel Barnes (020 3705 9318), Claes Spång (020 3705 9317)