AIM-listed medical diagnostics firm Omega said it was hopeful of completing technology transfer work on its flagship HIV test kit by the end of the year.
The Alva-based firm announced in September that development of its CD4 test kit had been delayed in order to investigate unforeseen variability in the production process.
The lightweight kits, which can analyse the CD4 count in a drop of blood and give an almost instantaneous indication that a person may have contracted the HIV virus, are due to be shipped in the first half of next year.
Africa is expected to be a key marketplace for the tests, where HIV infection rates are high in some countries but diagnosis rates and access to medicines can be low.
Omega said its investigations had eliminated a majority of possible variables in the CD4 production process.
The company said it was now concentrating on a small number of remaining variables in the process which may be responsible for the testing issues it had encountered.
It said it remained hopeful the timescales for CD4 would not slip further, but added that further information would be made available once the situation was more clear.
“The remaining variants are required to undergo further testing in order to select a single preferred manufacturing protocol,” the company said in an update to the market.
“This protocol will be subject to a three-batch evaluation, and the board remains hopeful of completing the technology transfer by the end of December 2013 in line with revised expectations.
“Ultimately, the board remains very confident of a successful technology transfer and will provide a further update in due course.”
Omega which also has a major interest in the allergy and food intolerance sectors employs around 30 people at its Alva HQ and another 120 worldwide.