Sensitive SARS-CoV-2 antigen test

This technology is highly sensitive antigen test for COVID-19 detection, which targets multiple proteins on SARS-CoV-2.

Unmet Need: COVID-19 test for rapidly detecting low viral counts in infected individuals

Current avenues of testing to diagnose active SARS-CoV-2 infection is limited to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and antigen testing. However, PCR testing is complex and slow to perform and analyze, and both commercially available PCR and antigen testing have been reported to have a false negative rate of about 20%. Therefore, there is still a need for a specific, sensitive, and rapid diagnostic test for COVID-19 infections.

The Technology: Specific, sensitive and rapid COVID-19 diagnostic with antibodies

This technology utilizes a pair of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) targeting different SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid proteins, to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2 antigens in various clinical samples using sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). The assay and the antibody pairing can detect SARS-CoV-2 at very low viral counts, due to the ability to bind to multiple proteins on the virus.

The technology has been validated using human plasma samples.

Applications:

• Diagnostic assays for SARS-CoV-2
• Drug screening for SARS-CoV-2 therapeutics
• Therapeutic for SARS-CoV-2 by neutralizing the virus via noncompetitive binding to different epitopes on the SARS-CoV-2 NP protein
• Research tool for SARS-CoV-2 disease development and progression

Advantages:

• Highly sensitive
• Highly specific
• Compatible with conventional patient sample collection protocols

Lead Inventor:

David D. Ho, M.D.

Patent Information:

Patent Pending (US20240003880)

Patent Pending (CA3186215)

Patent Issued (WO/2022/016048)

Related Publications:

• Liu L, Wang P, Nair MS, Yu J, Rapp M, Wang Q, Luo Y, Chan JF, Sahi V, Figueroa A, Guo XV, Cerutti G, Bimela J, Gorman J, Zhou T, Chen Z, Yuen KY, Kwong PD, Sodroski JG, Yin MT, Sheng Z, Huang Y, Shapiro L, Ho DD. “Potent neutralizing antibodies against multiple epitopes on SARS-CoV-2 spike” Nature. 2020 Aug; 584(7821): 450-456.

• Wang P, Liu L, Nair MS, Yin MT, Luo Y, Wang Q, Yuan T, Mori K, Solis AG, Yamashita M, Garg A, Purpura LJ, Laracy JC, Yu J, Joshua-Tor L, Sodroski J, Huang Y, Ho DD. “SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody responses are more robust in patients with severe disease” Emerg Microbes Infect. 2020 Dec; 9(1): 2091-2093.

• Garg A, Liu L, Ho DD, Joshua-Tor L. “Heterologous Expression and Purification of SARS-CoV2 Nucleocapsid Protein” Bio-protoc. 2020 Aug; 10(15): e5005.

Tech Ventures Reference:

• IR CU21002

• Licensing Contact: Kristin Neuman