Quanterix Licenses Multiplex SARS-CoV-2 Serology Test From B

Quanterix said on Monday it has inked a non-exclusive agreement with Brigham and Women's Hospital for a SARS-CoV-2 serology test on its Simoa multiplex immunoassay platform.

The agreement enables Quanterix to use the technology to conduct serological assay to address unmet needs in the clinical setting, in epidemiological studies, and for therapeutic and vaccine development.

According to the company, the test is a thousandfold more sensitive than conventional SARS-CoV-2 serology tests, which could allow it to detect antibodies in infected patients earlier in the disease and in small sample volumes.

In a non-peer-reviewed study recently detailed in a MedRxiv preprint, the company and research collaborators found the assay, which measures anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG, IgM, and IgA antibodies against four viral proteins, could detect patient seroconversion as quickly as one day after the onset of symptoms and in less than one microliter of plasma.

In a sample of 81 samples from Massachusetts General Hospital, the test had 86 percent sensitivity and 100 specificity when used in the first week of infection and 100 percent sensitivity and 100 percent specificity when used to test patients one week after the onset of symptoms.

"Uncovering new insights about immune response will be essential to our next steps as a global community," Quanterix President, Chairman, and CEO Kevin Hrusovsky said in a statement. "Our ultra-sensitive assay technology allows for earlier, more accurate detection using less invasive, small volume samples such as dried blood spots or capillary finger pricks that can be leveraged to maximize population testing reach into home sampling, as well as large sample dilutions to minimize matrix effects and false positives and negatives."

In a note to investors, SVB Leerink analyst Puneet Souda said that based on conversations with Quanterix management, he expects the assay and technology to be "best positioned as a research use assay and for confirmatory test for positive patients in a population-based study. Given the comprehensive nature, this assay provides more information than a highly scalable, single antibody test, with better performance, though is limited in terms of capacity and higher costs."

Quanterix said that it plans to explore the potential of transitioning the assay from its current laboratory research phase of development to a commercially available product.

In Monday afternoon trading on Nasdaq, Quanterix stock was up 4 percent to $27.58.