Mologic Limited, a company based in the UK, has sent prototypes of a 10-minute finger-prick coronavirus test to laboratories for validation before it takes up full-scale manufacturing.

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Once ready, the device will allow users to test for exposure to the virus at home within 10 minutes, without the need for special training, electricity or a laboratory.

The company is working in close partnership with the Institut Pasteur de Dakar to validate the COVID-19 test and manufacture at diaTROPiX, a new facility in Senegal.

This will be the first time that a diagnostic kit created in the UK will be jointly manufactured in Africa, ensuring tests are available in settings with limited access to laboratory facilities.

Leading laboratories on each continent will evaluate these different prototypes to independently assess their performance.

The availability of fast, reliable diagnostics for COVID-19 has been identified as one of the critical opportunities to support the control of the pandemic and "flatten the curve" of cases worldwide.

"Diagnostics are a critical weapon in the fight against this pandemic and, once ready, this test will enable affordable, more accurate and earlier diagnosis of infection, limiting the spread of the disease," said Professor Paul Davis, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, Mologic.

Echoing similar opinion, Joe Fitchett, Medical Director at Mologic, said: "Until a vaccine is ready or a medicine is proven to be effective, we need to decentralise diagnostics to the community as quickly as possible."

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He added, "Properly assessing new tests during an epidemic is a critical and necessary step to ensuring access to the technology. Mologic`s prototypes will now be subject to international validation, with leading labs across the world."