DIESSE ANNOUNCES A NEW SARS-CoV-2 ANTIGEN TEST

DIESSE Diagnostica Senese has provided laboratory medicine with yet another tool in the fight against COVID-19: a new test for detecting the SARS-CoV-2 Antigen in nasopharyngeal swabs. The test, which will be applied to the automated 'Chorus Trio' system, is due on the market by the end of November.

DIESSE has chosen not to launch a saliva test, despite it being readily available, in alignment with recent WHO indications, since saliva is a more complex sample and is difficult to standardize. As a result, DIESSE decided to focus its Research and Development activities on the nasopharyngeal swab, which WHO has identified as the sample of choice in SARS-CoV-2 research and developed the new antigen test for swabs.

So far tests to determine the prevalence of antigens, which indicate a patient’s actual contagion levels, have been performed using molecular diagnostics methods, or rapid antigen testing. DIESSE’s offering adds an automated quantitative test, capable of providing objective results, to this scenario.

The new antigen kit joins the range of DIESSE Diagnostica Senese S.p.A. serological diagnosis kits already on the market, which are used to determine the IgG, IgA, IgM and total immunoglobulins specific for SARS-CoV-2. Furthermore, the Research and Development group of DIESSE Diagnostica Senese is currently working on a new serological test, designed to quantitatively highlight antibodies directed against the S1 fraction of the Spike protein. This test will be useful in defining the immune response to vaccination against the SARS-CoV-2 virus as well as the persistence of immune response in previously infected subjects.

“DIESSE's commitment in the fight against the new Coronavirus continues unabated – says Commercial Operations Director Luigi Nava – We trust that the new kits under development, along with the others that we are developing, will be useful for monitoring therapy with human monoclonal antibodies and valid support in the fight against the pandemic”.