LabCorp announced the launch of a new test that can be used to assess the capacity of antibodies in patient plasma to inhibit the SARS-CoV-2 virus, according to a company press release.
Information from the test, PhenoSense, could be used in the development of COVID-19 vaccines and the screening of convalescent plasma for prophylactic and therapeutic use in patients, according to LabCorp, which also said the neutralizing antibody test will be available to biopharmaceutical companies, hospitals, blood banks and other plasma-screening facilities.
Some clinicians are relying on the serum collected from convalescent patients who had COVID-19 to support treatment of patients who are severely ill with COIVD-19. The assay is designed to help assess the neutralizing antibody activity correlated with the therapeutic efficacy of convalescent plasma administration, as well as the relative protective immunity of vaccine candidates.
