COVID-19 testing study at University of Oxford

Sensyne Health's CVm-Health+ä software application to facilitate rapid COVID-19 antigen testing study by the University of Oxford

CVm-Health+™ software application to support the University of Oxford in its Feasibility and Acceptability of community COVID-19 rapid Testing Strategies ("FACTS") clinical study

Oxford, U.K. 2 November 2020: Sensyne Health plc (LSE: SENS) ("Sensyne" or the "Company" or the "Group"), the UK Clinical AI company, today announces that its CVm-Health+™ app is to be used by the University of Oxford in its FACTS clinical study evaluating the feasibility and acceptability of new point-of-care tests ("POCT") for regular asymptomatic COVID-19 testing in the community.

The FACTS study is one of the three University pilot projects established by the UK Department for Health and Social Care and Public Health England.

How CVm-Health+ will be used in the FACTS study

The CVm-Health+ app, available on iOS and Android, will be used to:

· Provide access to study information and links to training materials

· Record health status and test result data for students and staff (with consent)

· Capture a time-stamped photograph of the POCT result every time an individual performs a test, to provide independent classification.

About the FACTS study

The feasability study, developed by Oxford in partnership with the Department of Health and Social Care, Public Health England and Durham University, will further understanding of how best to use the Lateral Flow Test (LFT) technology and how it could be used in the real world as part of broader COVID-19 testing strategies beyond the polymerise chain reaction (PCR) test.

The LFT produces results within a few minutes. Individuals swab their nose and/or throat to collect a sample, and then insert it into a tube of liquid for a short time. LFTs have already been validated and undergone clinical testing. If LFTs are able to detect enough people with the virus before they get symptoms, they could help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Oxford is now rolling out the Feasibility and Acceptability of community COVID-19 rapid Testing Strategies (FACTS) study within the University community to assess how to organise using LFTs on a regular basis.

Staff and students within particular areas of the University will be offered LFTs as part of the study and will be trained in how to take the test, process the test and record the results using NHS Test and Trace. Participation is completely voluntary.

The study will track how many people take up the offer of testing, how many carry on doing the tests regularly, and how many cases of COVID-19 are detected. It is envisaged that participants will be tested over a period of several weeks.

Professor Richard Hobbs CBE FMedSci, Head of the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences at the University of Oxford, said:

"The more rapidly we can identify people who have become infected by COVID-19, especially those who have become themselves infectious and those who are asymptomatic, the better the chance that quarantining those people and their close contacts might blunt the rapid spread of the pandemic. The FACTS study will help us understand for the first time how we might deploy these simple to use and rapid diagnostic tests at an unprecedented scale. A key element to the study is the digital capture of study data and test results that will be used to assess whether repeat self-testing is an option. We are delighted to be partnering with Sensyne Health in adapting their CVm-Health app for the FACTS study. FACTS has been organised at extraordinary pace with the research team and Sensyne delivering solutions in days that would normally take months."

Lord (Paul) Drayson PhD, CEO of Sensyne Health, said:

"The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing all organisations to understand and adapt to infection risk. Remote health monitoring software and the analysis of health data using clinical AI is already helping to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 in the healthcare sector and we are pleased that CVm-Health is being used for another clinical study of national importance."

-ENDS-

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About Sensyne Health 

Sensyne Health plc is a clinical AI company that works in partnership with the NHS to improve patient care and accelerate the discovery and development of new medicines. Sensyne Health is listed on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange (SENS.L).

For more information, please visit: www.sensynehealth.com