Gold-based rapid COVID-19 testing by Oxford University

Trevor Keel, Consultant, World Gold Council, has in a Goldhub blog titled ‘Gold-based Cocid-19 testing – an update‘, written that the UK Rapid Test Consortium, which is a partnership between Oxford University and leading diagnostics firms, has just announced a gold-based rapid test which has shown to be 98.6% accurate in clinical trials. Another UK firm, Mologic, has also recently announced promising clinical data of a similar covid rapid test. Both teams will now bring their respective technologies to market, focusing on scaling up manufacture to supply markets around the world. Importantly, Mologic has also established an independent manufacturing facility for its test which is delinked from commercial return. This site will manufacture up to 40 million devices per annum with a target price of $1.25 per unit, ensuring the technology will be available in low income settings.

A number of companies around the world are developing alternative goldbased technologies. Some have published promising laboratory data, with clinical data likely to be released in the coming weeks. These trials are critical as viral loads can be low from throat swabs, meaning test sensitivities in clinical settings can be poor as there is no amplification step involved.

Finally, one company has combined gold with a brand-new type of diagnostic technology and is currently working to develop a viable test. Mammoth Biosciences uses a technology that is based on CRISPR nucleases which search for the presence of specific nucleic acids in a sample that are indicative of disease, and gold nanoparticles are used to generate a simple visual readout on a rapid test strip. The company has recently announced a partnership with pharmaceutical group GSK to further develop the test, and aim to apply to the US FDA for approval before the end of the year.