Abbott today announced a government contract to supply millions of its laboratory-based IgG antibody tests to National Health Service (NHS) laboratories across the UK over the coming months. The company has already shipped 800,000 antibody tests this week to NHS laboratories, to be used as part of the testing initiative announced by the UK Secretary of State for Health today.
These tests, alongside the Abbott PCR tests already being used across the NHS, “enable Abbott to support the UK with broad, reliable molecular and antibody testing during this pandemic”, noted Abbott in a statement.
Abbott’s SARS-CoV-2 IgG test specifically identifies the IgG antibody, which is a protein that the body produces in the late stages of infection and may remain up to months and possibly years after a person has recovered. Abbott designed its test to detect the IgG antibody specifically as it can better help physicians determine recovery from infection, versus looking at a combination of antibodies. Abbott is also developing an IgM antibody test.
A recent study published in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology found that Abbott’s SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody test had 99.9% specificity and 100% sensitivity for detecting the IgG antibody in patients 17 days or more after symptoms began.
Abbott’s IgG antibody test will be available at NHS laboratories across the country, using its ARCHITECT i1000SR and i2000SR and Alinity i laboratory instruments. The ARCHITECT system can run up to 100-200 tests per hour to help hospitals and laboratories with reliable antibody testing during the pandemic.
“Since this is a new virus, there are still lots of questions. An antibody test provides an important piece of information that will tell if someone has previously been infected and recovered. We will see if a person has antibodies, but we’ll need to learn more to tell us how long they remain and what they mean,” noted Mary Rodgers, Ph.D., Abbott Global Viral Surveillance Program. “A positive test may provide peace of mind that someone has recovered from the illness, but people should still be vigilant about following guidelines.”
