Chesham, United Kingdom
Lateral flow tests are a form of diagnostic testing which are affordable, rapid, and offer a variety of applications. They are used for the detection of proteins, haptens, nucleic acids, and amplicons, they are a well-established tool in medical, veterinary, food, agricultural, and environmental settings and for use in industrial diagnostics too. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, LFAs (lateral flow assays) have played a crucial role in the response to the virus. Due to this, the demand for LFAs has increased and will still continue to increase in the future.
Lateral Flow tests seem to have been recognized by a lot of people until the pandemic. However, they were used and appreciated before then in other areas of medicine. For example, they have been used very effectively in pregnancy tests, to diagnose malaria, and more. In 2017, the number of tests sold for Malaria was about 276 million showing that they were appreciated before than pandemic. “I think one of the key things about lateral flow devices is that whilst they can be controversial, they do provide a cheap and effective way of getting diagnostic services out into the front line and in front of people where it’s difficult to practice more complicated types of testing”~Angus Urquhart - Sales Director at Katalyst Laboratories
Lateral flow technology has a reputation of inaccuracy from what we have seen from the pandemic, but is this necessarily true? Most people have generalized lateral flow tests, but like any other diagnostic or product, you’ve got better performing tests than others. “We’re in a heavily regulated industry and that’s the key and should be welcomed. I mean, that drives out this inaccurate reputation.” ~Leigh Thomas - Senior VP, Director of Global Sales at Abingdon Health. Lateral flow tests should also put focus on high-quality materials, given that they are complex devices and they rely on biological and complex materials. Using cheap imitations will affect the accuracy of the test; “it’s important to know that you can’t compromise on quality and create shortcuts” ~Robert Miller - President of Drummond Scientific.
How can we pitch lateral flow alongside other POC diagnostic solutions? Angus Urquhart says “There’s a time and a place for all testing and different types of testing. It’s very important to understand when is the right time to use different types of testing. In our experience, our core test is a rapid PCR test that can be run in an hour essentially. So, we have a lot of clients who use PCR testing because they can get those on-site results quickly. Some of our clients in the cruise world for example. We work a lot in that space. The key to this is to understand what the level of risk is, and the type of testing that is required to give people confidence. So, it’s a question of judging the circumstances in the situation and being able to offer a full solution.” What I would say, is that these rapid tests are used in incredibly critical situations in environmental situations. Urgency is the main selling point for LFAs but when you need the precision of a PCR test then there is a time and place for them, but LFAs give you somewhat accurate results in a short amount of time.
LFAs put less pressure on doctors to see patients, and put things into the patient's hands, that is why they have been used during the covid 19 pandemic. When you look at the NHS(The UK's free healthcare system) for example, diagnostic testing is something that is looking to be outsourced while moving forward after the covid 19 pandemic. They will be looking at home testing more and more and due to this, we may see a different way of how LFAs operate because we will have to streamline different things. So, this area of rapid diagnostics, in a sort of point-of-care setting, is I think going to become a major play moving forward for sure. “If we’re looking at what’s ahead for lateral flow, then I think the glass ceiling is pretty much being voluntarily broken on this. The value is being seen daily. There’s so much pressure on healthcare that there’s been a need to try and move triage and primary care out of the doctor’s office and into the hands of the patients.”~Leigh Thomas - Senior VP, Director of Global Sales at Abingdon Health. So in conclusion lateral flow tests are a great tool using advanced technology and they are something that could impact the healthcare industry in the future sizeably.
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