Angle UK, US, Canada operations 'severely disrupted' by Covid-19

Liquid biopsy company Angle said on Tuesday that operations in the UK, US and Canada had all been "severely disrupted" by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The AIM-listed group said it had temporarily cease operations at its UK laboratories and offices after the government imposed a lockdown last week.

"Throughout the medical device and diagnostic industry, the Covid-19 pandemic is severely disrupting clinical trials and research studies due to the temporary cessation of patient enrolment along with associated research activities at clinical sites," noted Angle.

"These extraordinary measures have been taken in order to allocate resources to healthcare systems and to seek to reduce the spread of Covid-19."

In terms of ongoing clinical work, Angle was unable to garner healthy volunteer blood donors for a trial aimed at getting US Food and Drug Administration approval for the use of its Parsortix system in metastatic breast cancer.

The group will now write up a full submission and collect the blood "within a few weeks" of the current restrictions being lifted.

Angle also said its US clinical verification study in ovarian cancer had been temporarily halted as resources at the hospital in question had been redeployed to meet the Covid-19 challenge.

As of 0940 BST, Angle shares had slumped 13.11% to 49.53p.