Mayo Clinic announces COVID-19 antibody test that could aid therapy, vaccine research

Thursday, Mayo Clinic announced it has created a COVID-19 antibody test that could help in finding therapies and vaccines for COVID-19.

According to Mayo Clinic, the test measures the level of neutralizing antibodies against the coronavirus.

"This new test provides us with incredibly important information about how effective a person’s antibodies are at neutralizing the virus," Dr. William Morice, president of Mayo Clinic Laboratories, said. "This will help us identify optimal convalescent plasma donors and ultimately help assess the efficacy of anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccines."

The tests will be available for certain labs, blood banks and other health care clients.

Mayo Clinic officials said the new test is not a replacement for serology testing, which detects coronavirus antibodies. The test also does not replace tests for COVID-19 diagnoses.

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