Fapon Biotech First in World to Introduce COVID-19 Antibodies for Antigen Lateral Flow Testing in Differentiating Variant B.1.1.7 and Wild-Type Virus

Fapon Biotech, a mainstream COVID-19 raw materials supplier to the global top-profile reagent manufacturers, introduced pioneering COVID-19 antibodies for antigen lateral flow testing to detect and differentiate COVID-19 and the most notable variant B.1.1.7 (also known as SARS-CoV-2 VUI 202012/01) in human samples.

Variant strain surveillance is vital for COVID-19 control. Variants such as B.1.1.7 that causes 40-70% higher transmissibility and false-negative results on some PCR tests had drawn concerns and investigation from scientists and healthcare authorities like WHO, FDA and others. According to WHO’s report on December 14, at least 50 countries had confirmed the identification of B.1.1.7 cases. 

The market demand for COVID-19 variant testing was once determined and anticipated by Fapon Biotech R&D team upon revealing the UK variant genome sequence. The company took the R&D approach from a different angle, adopted the idea of reverse technology design, and rapidly introduced the technology with a unique principle that can be used widely to identify variant strains. 

The launch of the product and technology took Fapon Biotech’s corporate mission, ‘Enable Earlier Disease Identification, More Convenient, Accurate and Affordable Diagnosis’ a step further in COVID-19 strain surveillance, adding great addition to current variant strain genome sequencing and PCR testing technologies. Fapon Biotech will continue keeping pace with changing trends in COVID-19 diagnosis and innovate to roll out products to help customers unlock market opportunities.