Roche has received emergency approval from the FDA for a new COVID-19 antibody test that detects antibodies against the coronavirus' spike protein and could be used to gauge people's immune responses to COVID-19 vaccines.
"Antibody tests like these will play a critical role in measuring a person’s vaccine-induced immune response," Roche CEO Thomas Schinecker said in a news release.
The tests targets "antibodies that are directed against the region of the novel coronavirus known as the spike protein, specifically the area that enables the virus to bind to a host cell receptor, which is required for the virus to enter the host cell."
Many current COVID-19 vaccine candidates aim to induce an antibody response against the spike protein, Roche said.
The tests produce results in about 18 minutes.
Read the full news release here.