AT1 French News Discussion, page-60

In the mean time things are progressing in France pretty quickly with approval for NG Biotech's test

(10:25) Coronavirus: for the tests, NG Biotech scores points…

Last weekend, the teams of NG Biotech, an SME from Ille-et-Vilaine, were very happy. On Thursday evening the 21st, health authorities included its brand new serological test among the 23 devices approved in France. A valid validation for the industrialist, against a backdrop of controversy and great vagueness about the usefulness and effectiveness of serological tests to detect immunity

Called NG-Test® IgG-IgM COVID-19, it is one of the rare rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs), designed and produced in France. The green light from the authorities gives a big boost to the legitimacy of the company, which had already won, in mid-May, the order for 100,000 tests from the Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), in addition to those already collected from hospitals in his region.

At the end of March, it was the Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) which provided it with support of one million euros. Enough to help boost its production, when the state and the French dream of knowing the country's immune map, especially in the event of the second wave of the epidemic. A second site, near the first in Guipry (Ille-et-Vilaine), will start soon.

"We will be able to deliver two million tests in July and double that at the end of the year," promises Alain Calvo, director of strategic development. In three months, NG Biotech's workforce doubled (70 people). At this rate, it could reach 150 employees by the end of the year.

The Covid-19 definitely offers a great opportunity, and a big publicity stunt, to this SME expert in innovative diagnostic solutions, created in 2012 by immunologists Alain Calvo and Milovan Stankov, and his son Milovan Stankov Pugès, now CEO .

Up to now, NG Biotech has mainly evolved in serological pregnancy and antimicrobial resistance tests. His tactics in this market where the giants are called Roche, Abbott or BioMérieux? "Find disruptive innovations that can be extended to other areas," says Alain Calvo.

Its patented CE marked Covid-19 TDR allows a laboratory result to be obtained in fifteen minutes from a drop of blood. Above all, he uses the same "all in one" principle of his pregnancy test, integrating the lancing device and the blood collector in one housing. Convenient for testing at the patient's bedside, especially in the emergency room. And reliable: according to the parameters used for serological tests, this test displays a sensitivity rate (its ability to detect even a low antibody level) of 95%, and specificity (its ability to distinguish specific antibodies to Sars-CoV-2 from others) by 100%.

Now authorized to be prescribed and reimbursed, the TDR of NG Biotech will be sold between 10 and 15 euros. On the marketing side, the SME called on its historic partner Eurobio Scientific, another three-color shoe size in the sector, very introduced to the hospital environment. "Distribution is a key factor for a player of this size," recalls an analyst in the sector.

https://www.entreprendre.fr/coronavirus-les-infos-du-jeudi-28-mai/