DeepVerge PLC reaches ‘significant milestone’ in the development of Covid rapid

() said initial results from phase III clinical studies of a rapid Coronavirus (COVID-19) breath test showed it can deliver results in under 60 seconds.

Chief executive Gerard Brandon described the early data from the real-world assessment of the Microtox BT system as a “major milestone”.

Researchers found the average virus breath condensate sample provided a nine-times higher signal than the control group when assessed using a specially developed nano-chip for detection.

DeepVerge said further data was required to confirm the same high sensitivity and specificity is achieved on breath test clinical trials, which are underway.

The UK Target Product Profile (TPP) for a rapid breath test requires 150 confirmed positive samples and 250 ‘negatives’.

“Additional supervised breath test clinical trials from a larger group is expected to provide sufficient data to meet the desired and acceptable criteria in the TPP to roll out the COVID-19 and other pathogen breath tests later this year,” said CEO Brandon.

Explaining the genesis of the new technology, Brandon explained that DeepVerge scientists had repurposed its existing AI-based water contamination detection technology for e.coli to create the breath condensate Microtox BT unit.

“Having successfully completed phase I testing on the Spike Protein and phase II studies with SARS-CoV-2 virus in the safety of CL3 laboratories, the initial results of Phase III real-world clinical studies in COVID-19 patients have reached a major milestone with the demonstration that our Microtox BT can deliver results in under 60 seconds from breath samples,” Brandon added.