05/13/2020

Research Demonstrates High Performance of Abbott's SARS-COV-2 Antibody Blood Test

More than 10 million antibody tests already have been shipped around the world

This week, Abbott announced today new research, published in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, which found that its SARS-COV-2 IgG lab-based serology blood test had 99.9 percent specificity and 100 percent sensitivity for detecting the IgG antibody in patients 17 days or more after symptoms began. Independent research was conducted by University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle.

Antibody testing can tell if someone has been previously infected with the virus and may be recovering or has recovered from the infection, in both people with or without signs or symptoms. Large scale antibody testing is seen as an important next step to understanding and addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) surveillance strategy. Antibody tests will provide greater understanding of the virus, including how long antibodies stay in the body, how much of the population has been infected, and how this changes over time. In April, Abbott announced the launch of its SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody blood test as the company's third COVID-19 test to help combat the pandemic. Abbott significantly scaled up its manufacturing and has already shipped more than 10 million antibody tests for its ARCHITECT platform to hospital systems and reference labs in all 50 states in the U.S. and around the world.  

"Health systems will play a critical role in large scale testing, and collaboration with leaders such as the University of Washington helps to ensure that our tests are performing at the highest standards when they are used in real-world settings," said Robert B. Ford, president and chief executive officer, Abbott. "We want to do our part in providing hospitals and reference labs around the world with access to reliable antibody testing."

Please select this link to read the complete press release from Abbott.