Shares of Wetherby-based diagnostics company Avacta Group plc rose about 5% on Tuesday after it announced that a study has shown that its AffiDX antigen lateral flow test detects the Delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in clinical samples.

Avacta said that AffiDX “… in this small study, outperformed two lateral flow antigen tests that are commercially available in Europe.”

Avacta CEO Alastair Smith said: “We are delighted to report that the AffiDX SARS-CoV-2 antigen lateral flow test detects the Delta variant with very high sensitivity for patients with a Ct value of less than 29.

“This is a variant of the virus that is spreading rapidly on a global scale and therefore the ability of the test to detect this variant is paramount to our commercial roll-out.

“In comparison with other lateral flow tests on the market, Avacta’s rapid antigen test demonstrates better clinical performance.

“This is a further huge validation of the Affimer reagent platform for use in in-vitro diagnostics.

“This excellent performance and ease of nasal sampling, coupled with the fact that the AffiDX test has been developed in the UK, is based on UK technology and is manufactured in the UK are huge selling points for customers in Europe.”