Prototype Covid test delivers results three times faster than lateral flow

Test developed in France is as accurate as PCR test and does not require lab processing

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French researchers have developed a coronavirus test that they say delivers results three times faster than rapid lateral flow antigen tests with - according to initial trial data - almost the same accuracy as more reliable, but slower, PCR tests.

The electrochemical test, which uses nanobodies taken from the camelid group of animals, returns a result within 10 minutes and, in an early test of 300 samples, proved 90% as accurate as a PCR test for both positive and negative results. It is being developed by scientists at Lille and Marseille universities and from the French national scientific research centre CNRS.