December 9, 2020 – Roche announced a partnership with Moderna Inc. to utilize the Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 S antibody test in Moderna’s mRNA-1273 vaccine research trials.
According to the company, this will facilitate the quantitative measurement of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and help to establish a correlation between vaccine-induced protection and levels of anti-receptor binding domain (RBD) antibodies. Significantly, Moderna’s vaccine triggers antibody response specifically to the RBD of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.
This follows the recent announcement that Roche has received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 S antibody test.
Roche says that measuring the quantitative levels of anti-RBD SARS-CoV-2 antibodies using Roche’s test will help Moderna to gain valuable insights into the correlation between protection from vaccination and antibody levels. This could play a role in assessing if, or when, an individual needs revaccination, or in helping to answer other clinically relevant questions.
This partnership with Moderna, started by using the Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 test for qualitative determination of anti-N SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. This has been part of Moderna’s vaccine trials for baselining and assessing natural infection in trial participants.