NEW YORK – Pictor on Wednesday announced it has obtained a $6.1 million investment to support the marketing of an antibody test, the PictArray SARS-CoV-2 assay, and its other in vitro diagnostic tests.
Auckland, New Zealand-based K One W One, and Marko Bogoievski, the former CEO of Wellington, New Zealand-based Morrison, led the financing round, which involved 20 investors and increased Pictor's raised capital to $17 million.
"We now have the capital for further market development and launches within the United States, India, Australia, New Zealand, and the [European Union]," Pictor CEO Howard Moore said in a statement.
The Auckland-based company said it is partnering with laboratory service provider Mobility Health, based in Mason, Ohio, to market the PictArray SARS-CoV-2 assay to indicate whether patients require a COVID-19 booster.
According to Pictor, the antibody assay will detect whether a patient has spike protein and nucleocapsid protein antibodies from a previous infection to protect against a future infection or has only spike protein antibodies from vaccination to protect against a future infection. The test will also indicate whether at-risk patients who have been vaccinated or exposed to a previous infection have failed to mount a detectable antibody response, the firm said.
However, the US Food and Drug Administration has cautioned the public against using antibody tests to assess their immunity status against SARS-CoV-2, saying on its website, "results from currently authorized SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests should not be used to evaluate a person’s level of immunity or protection from COVID-19 at any time, and especially after the person received a COVID-19 vaccination."
So far, the PictArray SARS-CoV-2 assay has not been granted FDA Emergency Use Authorization.
Last September, Pictor entered into a strategic collaboration with Scienion to commercialize a high throughput SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing system.