Coronavirus antibody test with 99% success rate approved for use in Europe

The company has said it is expecting to ship millions of the lab-based tests throughout the continent by the end of May.

By AARON REICH
A man is tested for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a Los Angeles fire department testing station for the homeless on Skid Row, in Los Angeles (photo credit: REUTERS/LUCY NICHOLSON)
A man is tested for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a Los Angeles fire department testing station for the homeless on Skid Row, in Los Angeles
(photo credit: REUTERS/LUCY NICHOLSON)
Abbott's coronavirus antibody test, which boasts an accuracy rate of 99%, has received approval for use across Europe, The Independent reported.
The company has said it is expecting to ship millions of the lab-based tests throughout the continent by the end of May.
Abbott's antibody test had already received Emergency Use Authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at the end of April, the company announced over social media.

The company had announced plans to supply the US with four million antibody tests in April, with that number rising to 20 million tests per month starting in June onward.

The development of this test is “very significant” for the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Simon Clarke, a University of Reading associate professor of cellular microbiology, told The Independent.
Clarke explained that the test works by analyzing if somebody has been exposed to the virus and generated an immune response, also known as antibodies. The specific type of antibody in question, known as an IgG protein, is produced after infection, and remains in the body for months, or possibly even years. However, “What [the test] can't do is tell you whether you're immune or not,” he added.
“Having antibodies in and of itself does not give you protective immunity, it might do, but we don’t know that.”
The issue with the coronavirus is that it is currently unknown if any immune response will last after infection. Some coronaviruses cause the common cold, he explained to The Independent, but the antibodies from this infection only give immunity for a short time. It is for this reason that there exists the danger of potentially becoming sick twice from the novel coronavirus.

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However, the reason for the test's usefulness and significance is that it can show “how the virus has moved through the population,” Clarke explained.
In the UK, Abbott's tests will be made available by May or early June, according to Prof. John Newton, who is leading the UK's testing efforts.
“We are optimistic that we will have a good antibody test when we need it, which of course is a little later in the progress of the pandemic,” Newton told the BBC. “Not many people would test positive for an antibody test if we had one now, so antibody tests come a little later.”
“Abbott has been focused on bringing Covid-19 tests to market as quickly as possible to help address this pandemic,” Abbott's northern European diagnostics division managing director Mike Clayton said, according to The Independent.
“We are proud to be able to provide our antibody tests immediately as they will help understand who has had the virus, leading to greater confidence as we get back to living life.”


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