LONDON - British start-up company iAbra said it had developed a 20-second saliva COVID-19 test which had 99.8% sensitivity and 96.7% specificity.

Trials of the "Virolens" test have taken place at Heathrow Airport, the company, which was founded in 2010, said.

"Our system allows simple, high speed, reliable and low-cost testing in dynamic environments," Greg Compton, CEO of iAbra, added in a statement.

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Stephen Addison) ((guy.faulconbridge@thomsonreuters.com; 07825218698;))