The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a coronavirus antibody test developed in a Rochester lab that could help scientists learn more about acquired immunity to the bug, according to a new report.
The test, developed by New Jersey-based Ortho Clinical Diagnostics at its upstate New York facility, allows researchers to help identify antibodies in the blood of patients who have been infected by COVID-19 and eventually recovered, NBC affiliate WHEC-TV in Rochester reported Wednesday.
“The test can help us understand acquired immunity,” the company said on its website.
Dr. Chockalingam Palaniappan, Ortho’s chief innovation officer, told the station last week that the test could give scientists a better understanding of the bug and how it is spread.
“We could actually know who were all possibly exposed, and then will have become resistant to the virus,” Palaniappan said.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has highlighted the importance of identifying coronavirus antibodies during his daily briefings on the pandemic, suggesting they could be one avenue toward developing a vaccine.
The test will be available in a few weeks and ready for use at more than 1,000 labs across the country, WHEC reported.
Those labs already have equipment in place that can analyze the new tests, the report noted.