Abingdon Health plc announced a partnership with Morrama Ltd. to accelerate the development of plastic free lateral flow housings. As part of the agreement, both Abingdon Health and Morrama will invest in a new company, Eco-Flo Innovations Ltd, that will focus on developing sustainable product design solutions for the lateral flow market. As part of the agreement Morrama will assign the intellectual property and know-how of their novelEco-Flo materialinto Eco-Flo Innovations Ltd. Abingdon Health and Morrama intend to make their first plastic-free, compostable cassette available to customers within the next 12 months.

The brand-new plastic free cassette will be manufactured in the UK and will utilise renewable plant fibre moulding technology that reduces CO2 emissions by 80% compared to the equivalent single-use plastic. The initial design will look to offer a straight swap from traditional plastic cassettes, breaking down any barrier for companies looking to reduce the impact of their assays and reduce the plastic use across the full test kit by 62%. In addition, the Eco-Flo Innovations team are already exploring ways to remove or switch out the remaining plastic content in tests as well as other aspects of lateral flow product design such as product packaging.

Lateral flow tests use became mainstream during the COVID-19 pandemic and have been vital part of diagnostics for decades, from pregnancy to plant health. In this period there has been limited change to test kit design and materials since their conception, but with the global push to minimise the environmental impact of single-use products, there is a pressing need to implement more environmentally sustainable solutions. It is estimated there are over two billion lateral flow immunoassays manufactured annually and the lateral flow market is set to grow from $43 billion in 2022 to $72 billion by 2024.

Given the scale of the market and its growth there is an increased need to consider the environmental impact of lateral flow tests. It is estimated that there are 25,000 tonnes of plastic produced globally for rapid testing every year, with an average test containing 10-15g of single-use virgin plastic. The Board notes that the investment in Eco-Flo Innovations Ltd. will have no material impact on the Company's cash position.