Thermo Fisher develops LABScreen COVID plus assay for transplant cases

Thermo Fisher Scientific has developed a new serological assay, dubbed LABScreen COVID Plus Assay, to help transplant candidates and recipients by detecting antibodies against Covid-19.

The company’s transplant diagnostic business has developed the LABScreen COVID Plus Assay, in collaboration with histocompatibility, infectious disease and nephrology laboratories at Emory University, Stanford University, University of Cincinnati and the University Health Network in Toronto.

Emory University Hospital HLA laboratory co-director Howard Gebel said: “We approached Thermo Fisher’s transplant diagnostic business because we believe their expertise with antibody assay development and commitment to the transplant community is critical to develop an assay for transplant patients that could both detect neutralizing antibodies and rule out false positives.”

Emory University Hospital HLA laboratory co-director Robert Bray said: “A semi-quantitative multiplex assay that can simultaneously detect the response to spike, receptor-binding domain, nucleocapsid and other SARS-CoV-2 proteins will be a huge step forward towards fully characterizing the immune response to Covid-19.”

LABScreen COVID Plus Assay leverages Luminex xMAP technology to detect different types of antibodies
Thermo fisher said that its new assay leverages Luminex xMAP technology to detect various types of antibodies, reduce false positives due to infections with common coronavirus, and is more specific than current assays.

When used with the HLA antibody detection, the new LABScreen COVID Plus reagents would provide an enhanced visualisation of the patient’s antibody profile, said the company.

The healthcare technology company is offering the new assay under its One Lambda brand, and the assay is said to become an important in-vitro diagnostic product for the transplant community.

Thermo fisher is offering its new LABScreen COVID Plus Assay exclusively for research use, and is planning to file for an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) with the FDA.

The company’s product pipeline includes wide range of antibody detection assays, post-transplant monitoring solutions including the novel Molecular Microscope Diagnostic System, HLA typing products, laboratory instrumentation and software, and industry-leading customer support.

Thermo Fisher transplant diagnostic business president Nicole Brockway said: “We’re proud of the role we play in responding to the pandemic, and this is one of many examples that demonstrate our ability and our commitment to fight Covid-19.

“Transplant patients have unique needs compared to other COVID-19 patients, and with the support of Luminex and our research partners, we’re delivering an innovative solution that’s tailored to meet those needs.”-NS Medical Devices