Development of a novel high-throughput Sars-CoV-2 antibody test

Norwegian Gentian AS and the University of Tromsø (UiT)/Norwegian Arctic University have collaborated in this project to develop a COVID-19 antibody test. The test detects antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in human blood, and provides quantitative information on the degree of acquired immunity, even if the person has been non-symptomatic. The test was launched in 2022. Modern technologies for testing antibodies (lateral flow, immunochemical, ELISA, etc.) have disadvantages such as high costs, low throughput (tests per hour) or that they can only be run on closed, proprietary systems. The automated turbidimetric analysis being developed in this project is fast, cost-effective and enables a high throughput (up to 2000 tests/hour. It is intended for use on any platform available on the market. There are over 430,000 different platforms ( clinical chemistry instruments using turbidimetry) at central clinical laboratories worldwide. The test will have close to 100% sensitivity (the ability of a test to identify those who have the disease or the true positive rate), and specificity (the ability to identify those without the disease or the true negative rate). The Gentian SARS-CoV-2 Total Antibody Assay is a valuable tool to: - Provide tools for long-term monitoring of immunity i society - Guiding decisions about herd immunity and vaccination strategy - Documented possibility of protection for the population and for everyone in Norwegian business, including tourism