Whether you’re vaccinated or have been infected with COVID-19, you will have developed some level of immunity to this coronavirus, an immunity level that will vary compared to others and most definitely decline over time. A group of pioneering scientists from Brookvale have heeded the call they knew would come and have created a fast, high quality finger prick COVID-19 antibody test. This test delivers beyond just a yes/no result (i.e. antibodies are detected or they aren’t). This test – an Australian first – will actually measure a person’s current antibody level, thereby allowing people to know their degree of immunity to COVID-19.
The brains behind this new test are the Northern Beaches biotech company Cellabs, whom we first featured in our July 2021 issue. I sat down with Founder and Managing Director, Dr Tony Smithyman, and his innovative team to deep dive into this exciting development.
How does this COVID-19 antibody test work?
We take a finger prick of blood (picture A) which is then picked up on special filter paper (picture B), collected on each petal, and sent to the lab. The process takes under a minute to capture with results available overnight. This way of testing is very convenient and far less invasive than venous blood collection, which a lot of antibody tests employ. The filter paper method we’ve developed at Cellabs ensures the dried blood remains usable for months.
Are you seeing much demand for the test?
Yes, there’s demand across the board. We’ve been asked to use this test for a project in Papua New Guinea for example, and you can imagine in places with remote villages, like Africa or South America, our tests will be immensely useful, allowing easy and fast collection of blood samples, then with the dried blood remaining stable for months on our filter paper, we can provide the best results no matter what transport challenges may present themselves in remote regions.
What is the magic antibody number?
Our tests do measure precisely how high someone’s antibody levels are, but the exact number deemed ‘gold standard’ is still being decided upon among the world’s scientific community. We did anticipate this though, so we designed our test to be expressed in international antibody units traceable to the World Health Organisation (WHO) International Standard.
Why does antibody testing matter?
Billions of people have been or will be vaccinated, but the reality of waning immunity, breakthrough infections and booster shots will lead many people to seek and need antibody tests to determine how protected they in fact are. Studies around the world have confirmed antibody levels, particularly in those who’ve not been naturally infected, start to drop off quite sharply about 6 months from the date of the last vaccine shot. We’re all going to encounter this coronavirus at some stage. That’s the nature of these viruses. So, if it’s inevitable you’re going to meet the virus, then you want to be in the best position that you can, immunity-wise, when you encounter it.
When will your test be available?
We’ve been working on the test kit for 20 months and are currently going through due process with the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). Once accepted, this will be the first COVID-19 antibody test kit manufactured and owned in Australia. This is so important, and one of the main reasons for creating this test was the fact that Australia wasn’t producing tests locally. We had to make every element ourselves, but now this experience can be used for other tests and Australia won’t be so dependent on overseas developers in the future.
Visit www.cellabs.com.au to learn more.
PLEASE NOTE: The information provided in this article is for educational purposes only, and does not substitute for professional medical advice. Consult a medical professional or healthcare provider for medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment.