Corona-Virus-spezifische Antikörpertests zur Beurteilung der Immunität in der Bevölkerung

When SARS-CoV-2 started to circulate in the Western hemisphere in February 2020 it was completely unknown how many infections would lead to disease and how many would stay asymptomatic. The presence of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies in individuals indicates prior exposure to the virus regardless of the development of signs of disease. These antibodies are expected to persist for weeks to months in the blood circulation after clearance of the virus by the immune system.

Hence, at the beginning of the pandemic it was crucial to develop diagnostic tests to measure SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies with high specificity (exclusion of false positive) and sensitivity (detection of very low antibody titers). Our consortium of scientists from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU), the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna developed such a highquality antibody test system within 5 months. Due to the integration of an industry partner (Technoclone, Vienna) into the consortium, the test could be released to the market at the beginning of September 2020.

In contrast to many other commercial SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests, the assay developed by us allows the quantification of antibody titers, which is very important in longitudinal studies to assess the duration of immunity. Moreover, the test is available in two formats, which allows the detection of antibodies against either the nucleoprotein or the receptor binding domain within the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. By a combination of the two test systems, high specificity and sensitivity values could be achieved: 99.9% and 90.4%, respectively. These values are in the same range as those of a number of other test systems that are currently available from major pharma and biotech companies like Roche, Abbott and DiaSorin. Moreover, the test is completely “Made in Vienna”.