Imanis Life Sciences Announces New Data from Clinical Assay Measuring SARS-CoV-2 Neutralizing Antibodies

• Clinical validation of high throughput assay that provides numeric results (titer) of neutralizing antibodies
  
• Former COVID-19 patients, in a small preliminary sample set, saw marked decline in neutralizing antibodies within six months
• Assay shows no guarantee that severe disease results in higher levels of antibody protection

ROCHESTER, Minn., Feb. 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Imanis Life Sciences (“Imanis” or “The Company”), in collaboration with Vyriad, Inc. and Regeneron, today announced data from its latest improved IMMUNO-COV^TM test, an assay for the quantitative measure of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) neutralizing antibodies. The manuscript is available on medRxiv and has been submitted for additional publication following scientific peer review.

Data acquired from a small initial cohort showed that neutralizing antibodies declined at least 50% within six months in nearly all individuals recovering from COVID-19 infection. Samples from this small test group were first secured in April and then again in October and tested via IMMUNO-COV, the first scalable, quantitative virus neutralizing antibody test for COVID-19. The results correlated closely with those acquired by plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT), which remains the gold standard for serological testing and determining immune protection. A scalable, clinical test for measuring neutralizing antibody titers is critical for large population studies of COVID-19 immunity. Imanis, with its IMMUNO-COV assay, plans to test samples from larger cohorts to continue to track the rate of neutralizing antibody decline in both recovered patients and inoculated individuals.

“IMMUNO-COV was developed to address the unmet and urgent need of a deeper understanding around the spread of COVID-19,” said Michael Herbert, Chief Commercial Officer at Imanis. “PRNT is the gold standard of quantitative assays, which is why we ensured our results correlated; however, it is not widely scalable for surveillance of COVID-19 protection and vaccine efficacy. We are proud to be able to offer a solution to this gap through IMMUNO-COV, which is both accurate and widely scalable.”

As part of the clinical trial, participants were asked to report the severity of their COVID-19 symptoms in order to compare disease severity to the number of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies detected by the assay. While the general trend supported the current notion that people with more severe cases of COVID-19 are more likely to generate higher levels of neutralizing antibodies, the assay showed there is no guarantee that severe disease results in higher levels of antibody protection. Regardless of disease severity, individuals develop a wide range of neutralizing antibody titers.

“Neutralizing antibodies are key determinants of protection from future infection,” said Rianna Vandergaast, Ph.D., Principal Scientist at Imanis. “The ability to monitor neutralizing antibody titers could not only help us determine the duration of immunity, but also better understand the timeline required between vaccine inoculation and boosters.”

“These results continue to support the value and validity of IMMUNO-COV,” said Stephen Russell, M.D., Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of Imanis. “We are encouraged by the continued possibilities of the test to help answer many of the burning questions around COVID-19.”

About Imanis Life Sciences
Imanis Life Sciences has an unwavering commitment to the advancement of science. For many companies, profitability rules decision making. But at Imanis, leading scientific breakthroughs is the primary focus. We are about making a difference in the world by putting people in a better position than they were yesterday. We strive to do this by being a leader in laboratory assays and research services to accelerate the development of a broad range of next-generation therapies. Imanis Life Sciences is located in Rochester, Minnesota. For more information, visit https://imanis-immunocov.com.