Multi-billion contract on the line as UK regulator reviews rapid testing device for continued use

Special authorisation for use of the Innova lateral flow test, which currently expires on 22 June, is being reviewed by Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, finds Samuel Lovett

A worker processes an Innova lateral flow test on a swab taken from a student returning to Hull University (AFP via Getty Images)

A multi-billion contract the government signed with a US-based diagnostic firm could be in jeopardy if Britain’s medicines regulators does not renew its special authorisation of one of the most widely-used rapid home tests in the UK.

The Innova lateral flow test was first approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) back in December – but only under a time sensitive Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) that expires on 22 June.

As part of contracts with the government worth around £3 billion, Innova has supplied more than one billion tests to the UK, which are being used as part of Downing Street’s twice-weekly mass testing programme – a crucial pillar of NHS Test and Trace.