April 17, 2020—Roche announced the development and upcoming launch of its Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 serology test to detect antibodies in people who have been exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoassay is an in vitro test that uses human serum and plasma drawn from a blood sample to detect antibodies and determine the body’s immune reaction to SARS-CoV-2. Hospitals and reference laboratories can run the test on Roche’s Cobas e analyzers, which can provide results in about 18 minutes, with a test throughput of up to 300 tests per hour, depending on the analyzer.
Roche aims to have the antibody test available by early May in countries accepting the CE mark and is working with the FDA for an emergency use authorization. Roche is planning on an accelerated ramp up of monthly production to high double-digit million tests by June, the company said in a press release, and will further scale up production as quickly as possible.