British Company Pulls COVID-19 Testing Product Off Market Following Drop in Effectiveness

A student holds a swab that is part of a lateral flow test at Swansea University in Swansea, Wales, on Dec. 8, 2020. Matthew Horwood/Getty Images

Britain’s Avacta Group has temporarily halted sales of its COVID-19 lateral flow test, according to a statement released Monday, in order to replace the antibody in the device and ensure that the effectiveness of detecting the Omicron variant is on par with that of previous strains.

Avacta, based in Cambridge, has since lost a third of its value following the news.