Leinco Technologies Launches Novel COVID-19 ELISA Test Kit
one of the most urgent infectious disease challenges the world has faced in recent history. Currently, there are few treatment options, therefore, the need to evaluate neutralizing antibodies to combat the SARS-CoV-2 virus is at an all-time high. Current screening methods to identify circulating SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies, including the plaque reduction neutralization assay and other live virus cell-based tests, are inefficient and may require several days to complete.
As a result, and in search of a better solution, Leinco Technologies has developed a proprietary and fully validated assay called the ImmunoRank™ COVID-19 Neutralization MICRO-ELISA Test. This standard 96-well ELISA-based assay is a game changer for evaluating convalescent plasma, antibody therapies, and determining the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines. ImmunoRank™ was developed in collaboration with ADMA Biologics.
This assay is designed to aid in the identification of individuals with an adaptive immune response to SARS-CoV-2, indicating recent or prior infection, and the detection of circulating SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies of all classes of Ig. Antibodies specific to the receptor binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 can block the binding of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). RBD-specific neutralizing antibodies have been identified in the plasma of convalescent survivors of COVID-19. Therefore, the identification of high-titer convalescent plasma is an important tool for therapy development. Monitoring of serum for circulating SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies during vaccine development to determine continued protective immunity would be another important application of the ImmunoRank™ assay.
"The ImmunoRank™ Neutralization Assay will be an effective tool for monitoring responses to vaccines and for the selection of high-titer convalescent plasma units for the treatment of COVID-19," said Pat Leinert Sr., President and CEO of Leinco Technologies, Inc. further added, "Leinco Technologies (St. Louis, Missouri) and our development partner ADMA Biologics (Boca Raton, Florida) have teamed up to develop this assay. We believe it will provide researchers with an important tool to develop new therapies and vaccines to fight the war against the invisible enemy SARS-CoV-2".
ImmunoRank™ can test up to 90 samples per test kit with 99.8% specificity. Leinco is ready to produce more than a thousand ImmunoRank™ kits per month, sold to CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments) certified hospitals and laboratories, as well as sold to academic institutes and researchers to further study COVID-19.