MedCity and London institutions come together to form London Testing Alliance

Building on the contributions of leading universities, research institutions and industry in London, who have deployed their laboratories, equipment, and scientists to address the global COVID-19 crisis, MedCity has established the London Testing Alliance. The Alliance will support the national response to the crisis through a coordinated network capable of significantly scaling up diagnostic testing capacity for Londoners, including potential for supporting antibody testing, vaccine development and manufacture.

MedCity is coordinating the Alliance to collectively offer a national response to the crisis, establishing an effective means for engagement across London institutions and a channel of communication to the region and national testing teams.  This coordination consists of:

• Regular communication with the Greater London Authority, NHS, Public Health England, the multi-agency Regional Strategic Testing Group and the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), to ensure supply meets demand.
• Mapping additional capacity for COVID-19 diagnostic testing within London institutions and industry, and further down the line, for antibody testing. Mapping of pilots underway that offer wider testing capacity to the community.
• Highlighting and sharing best practices adopted by institutions to overcome barriers in mobilising testing capacity, such as testing standards adoption, assay validation, Trust indemnity, and supply chain.
• Visibly demonstrating the power of collaboration for national benefit, and the potential for investment into the growth of the sector regionally and nationally beyond the pandemic.

Neelam Patel, CEO, MedCity said:

“The London Testing Alliance is a collective force in the fight against this deadly virus. By uniting in this way, the city’s world-leading institutions have enabled London to leverage huge untapped assets across space, equipment and people that means we can scale-up diagnostic testing of COVID-19 to meet demand and ultimately save the greatest possible number of lives.

“MedCity’s vision is to advance cutting-edge health & life sciences innovation in London, Greater South East and beyond, supporting growth and investment, and improving health and wellbeing.”

Rajesh Agrawal, Deputy Mayor of London for Business, said: 

“The work of MedCity in establishing the London Testing Alliance is an important step in the fight against COVID-19. It’s fantastic that London’s world-leading universities and research institutions have been brought together to significantly increase testing.”