Zurich:
Roche is partnering with Moderna to contain a COVID-19 antibody test in the mRNA specialist’s ongoing vaccine trials, the Swiss drugmaker mentioned on Wednesday, potentially demonstrating if the vaccine is functioning.
Roche mentioned the test, which received US Food and Drug Administration emergency use approval in November, can deliver quantitative proof of the presence and levels of antibodies that create in response to Moderna’s vaccine candidate.
Moderna’s vaccine, which in late-stage trials with a lot more than 30,000 participants showed efficacy of 94% in stopping COVID-19, is made to trigger an antibody response to proteins located on the coronavirus spike’s receptor binding domain, the portion of the virus that gains entry to human cells.
Roche mentioned its test, performed in a laboratory setting and requiring a blood draw, can establish a correlation amongst vaccine-induced protection and levels of receptor-binding domain antibodies.
“This could play a role in assessing if, or when, an individual needs revaccination, or in helping to answer other clinically relevant questions,” Roche mentioned in a statement.
Until now, demand for so-named molecular tests to detect active COVID-19 illness from Roche and other companies has far exceeded provide, even though there has been much less demand for so-named antibody tests that assist figure out if a individual has been exposed to the new coronavirus and has recovered.
Roche hopes with new tests like the one particular it is pairing with Moderna’s trial will assist increase demand for antibody tests, as well.
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