Diasys Launches New SARS-CoV-2 UTAB FS Universally Applicable Total Antibody Test

DiaSys Diagnostic Systems GmbH (Holzheim, Germany) has launched a new immunoturbidimetric test for the quantitative determination of total antibodies in COVID-19.

The universally applicable total antibody test, called SARS-CoV-2 UTAB FS (UTAB = Universal Total AntiBody), allows to detect whether a person has already been infected with SARS CoV-2 and may have developed immunity to the corona virus. The test detects antibodies of the early immune response (IgM and IgA antibodies) as well as antibodies that evoke a more long-lasting specific immune response in blood (antibody class IgG). The SARS-CoV-2 UTAB FS test for clinical diagnostic laboratories provides reliable and indicative results for patient management within only 10 minutes. The test requires no special equipment and allows comparable results on nearly all clinical chemistry analyzers available worldwide.

It is scientifically proven that the virus attaches to the host cell via a special binding site in the spike 1 envelope protein, the so-called receptor binding domain, or RBD for short, and then infects the host cell. Antibodies against this RBD are able to suppress the attachment of the virus to the host cell and thus its infection and are consequently called neutralizing antibodies. Due to the importance of these antibodies, DiaSys has selected the RBD as the target antigen for the assay to determine total antibodies in COVID-19.

Quantitative assessment of antibodies against the RBD domain of the spike protein, so-called anti-RBD SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, is becoming increasingly important. It provides information on the actual spread of infection in the population and enables characterization of a vaccine-induced immune response. It allows to define the initial antibody status, captures the change in antibody levels induced by a vaccine, and permits to judge the efficacy of a vaccine and to determine required vaccination intervals.