Integral Molecular Develops Test for Neutralizing COVID-19 Antibodies

Integral Molecular announces the launch of SARS-CoV-2 Reporter Virus Particles (RVPs) to test patients for the presence of neutralizing antibodies, determine the effectiveness of vaccines, and measure the efficacy of drugs to enable expedited testing of new vaccines and therapeutics. As part of its commitment to supporting COVID-19 research, Integral Molecular will provide scientists with access to samples of SARS-CoV-2 RVPs at no cost.

Traditional diagnostic blood tests can only detect the presence or absence of antibodies. In contrast, SARS-CoV-2 RVPs assess the ability of antibodies to neutralize (block) virus infection. This distinction is crucial since neutralizing antibodies are the ones that typically offer protection from disease. SARS-CoV-2 RVPs eliminate the need to use live virus for neutralization assays and are safe using standard (BSL-2) laboratory conditions, quantitative, and amenable to high-throughput screening.

"With 20 years of virology experience, Integral Molecular is the industry leader in providing RVPs for therapeutic antibody development and vaccine clinical trials," said Benjamin Doranz, President and CEO of Integral Molecular. "Like our other reporter viruses, we expect that coronavirus RVPs will be used to determine if serum from vaccinees contain protective antibodies, if new therapeutic antibodies can kill the virus, and if convalescent COVID-19 patients have protective serum that can be used in therapy."

SARS-CoV-2 RVPs contain the coronavirus spike protein, which is the primary target of the human immune response, and carry a non-infectious genome that produces an easily measured fluorescent or light emitting signal upon cellular infection. Integral Molecular has extensive experience producing large-scale batches of quality-controlled RVPs for dengue and Zika viruses (Mattia et al., 2011, and Whitbeck et al., 2020), which are being used as critical reagents in vaccine clinical trials.

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