NEW YORK ─ Luminex on Wednesday announced that it has received a $683,500 award from the US Department of Health and Human Services' Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to support the enhancement of its xMap SARS-CoV-2 Multi-Antigen IgG Assay.
The Austin, Texas-based diagnostic company said it seeks to develop a test that identifies prior infection and assesses the neutralizing activity of the immune response.
The assay is being developed to detect antibodies against three different viral antigens — the spike protein, nucleocapsid, and receptor-binding domain. The Luminex assay will integrate information from the three antigens to provide a more comprehensive view of a person's immune status. The test will run on the firm's Magpix, Luminex 200, and Flexmap 3D platforms, it said.
The firm's current xMap SARS-CoV-2 Multi-Antigen IgG Assay delivers results for up to 96 patient samples in less than four hours, Luminex said. The US Food and Drug Administration granted Emergency Use Authorization for that assay in July.
Luminex said it anticipates submitting the enhanced version of the serology assay for FDA EUA when the new project is completed.