Omega Diagnostics saw its shares take a hit following a British Medical Journal report questioning the accuracy of the Covid-19 test being developed by the UK Rapid Test Consortium it is part of.
The Clackmannanshire-based company's shares were down 14% yesterday - closing 8p lower at 48p.
The BMJ study suggested that if it was used in real life settings the AbC-19 Rapid Test the consortium is developing would result in aa number of false positives.
Its estimate suggested that as many as one in five could be wrongly told that they had tested positive for the virus.
The consortium, led by York-based Abingdon Health, said that it had “concerns with the BMJ research and modelling methodology”.
In a statement, Omega said that the Department of Health and Social Care was “satisfied with the performance of the test” as the consortium and “will continue to roll out the use of the product”.
It added: “Public Health England conducted an evaluation at the DHSC's request, prior to DHSC purchasing the product, and will continue to deploy the test for use in surveillance studies.”
In October, the UK Government placed its first order for an initial one million of the AbC-19 tests, of which Omega will manufacture 175,000.
The Alva-based company is to manufacture at least a quarter of the total orders for the test requested by the government.
