UK government buying tests without validation?https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/05/government-buying-90-minute-covid-tests-without-evidence-they-work Public funds have been used to purchase these tests, so transparency about their effectiveness is really important. Recent experience where the government purchased millions of sub-optimal antibody tests before they had been robustly evaluated shows the danger of purchasing equipment on the basis of manufacturers’ claims alone. The lab-free testing machine from DnaNudge is potentially exciting. The government has placed a £161m order for these machines, which are currently being evaluated on saliva. If they work, people could be tested for Covid-19 without having to take the nose or throat swab that many find unpleasant. This has particular advantages in children, though it has a low throughput – each machine can complete only a maximum of 15 tests a day. The developers of the LamPORE swab test say they can complete up to 15,000 tests a day, although no real-world data is publicly available.
During the pandemic, the urgency that has produced valuable data has also led to the fast dissemination of research and equipment that isn’t subject to normal systems of evaluation, such as peer review. As clinical researchers, we went looking for information about these two new tests, and could find no data on either, despite the DnaNudge website stating excellent performance in clinical studies. The LamPORE website says that analytical performance testing is “ongoing”.
LamPORE and DnaNudge are undoubtedly exciting technologies. But the fact the government announcement didn’t even include a “pre-print” publication (the term given to research that is published prior to undergoing peer review) about either test is concerning. According to Imperial College London, DnaNudge was evaluated from April in eight London hospitals.
Nobody wants to hinder the development of new, potentially lifesaving technologies. But in order to fully understand how the tests perform in a lab, pre-clinical testing should be rigorous.