Avacta Group, the developer of Affimer biotherapeutics and reagents, is collaborating with Integumen to evaluate recently generated Affimer reagents that bind the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein for the detection of the coronavirus in waste water.
Over 60% of SARS-CoV-2-positive patients had gastrointestinal symptoms, such as diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting, and the virus was found in their faecal samples. Sampling waste water from households may therefore provide an early warning system for localised outbreaks in communities.
Recently, Avacta announced that it had generated a number of highly specific Affimer reagents that detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus spike protein for use in diagnostic tests and in neutralising therapies.
The collaboration with Integumen aims to evaluate some of these Affimer reagents in next-generation sensors, based on the real-time bacteria detection and alert system developed by Rinocloud, a subsidiary of Integumen, with the aim of integrating these sensors into Modern Water’s Microtox water contamination system to detect the coronavirus.
The award-winning Microtox system, which can detect the presence of contaminating bacteria, virus and toxins, is distributed by Modern Water and has a global footprint of over 3000 installations. The proposed Affimer sensors would be consumable items to be replaced on a roughly monthly basis.
Once initial testing of the Affimer reagents is completed, validation of the sensors will be carried out using SARS-CoV-2 virus samples in a containment level 3 laboratory at the University of Aberdeen. Upon successful completion of this evaluation, Integumen and Avacta will enter into a supply agreement to allow Integumen to manufacture and commercialise the waste water detection sensors globally by retrofitting into Microtox systems.
Dr Alastair Smith (pictured; Chief Executive of Avacta Group) commented: ““I am very pleased to be entering into this collaboration with Integumen, which holds substantial commercial potential for an Affimer-based consumable SARS-CoV-2 detector unit to retrofit into the globally-installed base of Microtox systems. Affimer reagents are ideal for applications such as this, not only because of their sensitivity and specificity, but also because of their robustness, which is essential when being deployed in real-world situations, such as real-time waste water analysis.
“With the spread of COVID-19 continuing to accelerate globally, we are proud to work with partners like Integumen to provide our Affimer reagents for development on a range of platforms to combat the pandemic. This collaboration has the potential to deliver a product that will play a crucial role in the early detection of COVID-19 hotspots around the world.”
