Lessons learnt: the role of academia and industry in the UK’s diagnostic testing response to COVID-19

The UK’s diagnostic testing capacity needed to be developed and expanded rapidly during the initial COVID-19 epidemic to cope with the rising number of COVID-19 infections. This response required drawing on expertise and resources in academia and industry. 

The roundtable convened stakeholders from across the sector, with representatives from academia, industry, the NHS, Government, and others, to:

• Consider the barriers encountered by academic and industrial laboratories at the start of the UK COVID-19 epidemic, as well as, the enablers where there was successful engagement.
• Reflect on lessons learnt from the UK’s diagnostic testing response to the first wave of COVID-19 infection in spring 2020.
• Propose strategies to enable more effective diagnostic testing capacity across academia, industry and the NHS in the UK for COVID-19 and other emerging infections.

The meeting was chaired by Professor Sir John Tooke FMedSci, Executive Chair, Academic Health Solutions.