Kartik Chandran - July 29, 2020

Kartik Chandran, PhD, Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine "Detecting, Dissecting, and Disabling the SARS-CoV-2 spike"

To develop a serologic assay for SARS-COV-2 spike specific antibodies, there was an acute need for COVID-19 antibody testing for patients and HCWs. However, barriers exist including the shifting landscape of commercial tests, sensitivity/specificity not always clear, hard to “future-proof” given the high demand, and limited supply. A group of research collaborators has produced SARS-CoV-2 spike protein at scale and turned ELISA curves into a single cut-off value for Dx. The preliminary results showed assay was highly reproducible. After selected cut-offs to maximize specificity and sensitivity, a spike-based Dx test distinguishes SARS2 from hCoVs. The current research has validated against the Wadworth NYS test, validated against Columbia LDT, conducted a large cross-validation study at MMC almost complete, and applied for NYS emergency use authorization. Also, the assay has been ported to automated format in the MMC Pathology CLIA-certified lab and cross-validated. Therefore, to analyze the BSL-2 assays, there was ongoing demand to study viral infection mechanisms, screen small-molecule inhibitors for antiviral activity, profile the immunological activity of candidate vaccines, and screen donor plasma and monoclonal antibodies for neutralizing activity. It turned out that convalescent plasma appeared to have value in improving outcomes in moderate-severely ill COVID-19 patients. Antibody therapeutics have shown to be effective against other viral diseases. There is ongoing research to analyze whether the same approach can be applied to COVID-19.