4th September 2020

BBI recruiting to support COVID-19 antibody home test ramp up

BBI Solutions is recruiting for roles to support its work as part of a UK government consortium, tasked with developing and manufacturing a COVID-19 Point of Care antibody test to support the government’s testing strategy.

Four months ago, UK government established the UK-Rapid Test Consortium (UK-RTC), in which BBI Solutions is a partner, to develop a COVID-19 lateral flow antibody test that can be used by people in their homes to determine if they have an antibody response to COVID-19.

The successful completion of the development of the assay means BBI and its UK-Rapid Test Consortium (UK-RTC) partners require more staff to meet production demands in advance of final approval of the test by regulatory authorities.

It is investing in roles at its manufacturing headquarters in Crumlin, South Wales, based in manufacturing, quality control, compliance, technical operations and supply chain.

Given the scale of the potential demand for the test within the UK, the consortium will introduce a phased ramping up in capacity, but is making these appointments in preparation for ensuring a smooth transition to high volume production at the manufacturing facilities by the end of the year.

BBI Group chief executive Dr Mario Gualano said: “Given the difficult times we find ourselves in, we are delighted to announce vacancies. We have always valued our employees and they have been key to the speed at which our work with UK-RTC has progressed. We are pleased to be able to build on our team – these are exciting times for BBI and we envisage these key appointments playing their part in further developments with the consortium.

“This is a very complex project that is being completed at extraordinary speed, compared to a normal test development programme.

“But we remain on track to deliver a test to the UK that will make a significant difference to the approach needed to manage COVID-19 infections.

“We are proud to be an integral part of this project and are thrilled with the progress to date.”