The government wants help from businesses to increase testing capacity in the UK as part of its strategy to protect the NHS and save lives.
On 2nd April 2020, the government announced its new national testing strategy, including a commitment to deliver 100,000 tests a day by the end of the month, and many more beyond that. The government wants industry to help them in meeting that challenge.
In the short term, we must be focused on the challenge at hand, so the government want to hear specifically from companies who can manufacture and supply:
- consumables and equipment for coronavirus testing, in particular test kits (such as nose and throat swabs, transport media and vials) and RNA extraction lab consumables (such as reagents, plates and pipette tips)
- new or existing types of coronavirus tests for antigens or antibodies. These must meet the requirement set out by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). MHRA has published guidance on antibody tests
They also want to hear from:
- public or private sector organisations that can offer laboratory capacity. We have published further guidance about the criteria laboratories need to meet to partner with a local NHS trust