Novacyt says its tests can detect new Covid strain, shares surge

Novacyt shares surged on Monday after the clinical diagnostics specialist said that its tests can detect the new strain of Covid-19 identified by the UK’s Genomics consortium, known as VUI-202012/01.

The company has carried out a detailed analysis of the mutations in this new variant and in all published Covid-19 strains to fully assess the reliability of its existing diagnostic tests.

It said the results of the in silico (computer simulation) analysis of the sequenced mutations show that its polymerase chain reaction product portfolio, based around a single and a two gene target for Covid-19, "remain able to detect all published Covid-19 strains with the same high level of accuracy, including VUI-202012/01".

Novacyt also noted that the new variant of the virus has been identified in other countries, including the Netherlands, Denmark and Australia.

At 1010 GMT, the shares were up 9.4% at 904p.