A New SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Biosensor Chip was Successfully Deployed for Simultaneous Measurements of IgG, IgA, and IgM Using Only 2 µL of Serum per Patient

Carterra^® Inc., the world leader in high-throughput antibody screening and characterization, has announced the availability of a highly accurate assay for simultaneously measuring the concentration and binding of IgG, IgM, and IgA antibodies to the Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2. Carterra’s new label-free assay provides, for the first time, detailed resolution of the immune response of patients recovering from COVID-19 in a single assay and represents a significant development for clinical research teams studying immune responses to SARS-CoV-2. A peer-reviewed paper describing this assay is pending publication in Nature Communications and a preprint of this groundbreaking research can be accessed on Research Square. The new SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein RBD SPR Biosensor Chip can be used for COVID-19-related antibody therapeutics screening, vaccine development, and serology-based clinical research applications. The assay and chip run on Carterra’s revolutionary LSA™ high-throughput Surface Plasmon Resonance (HT-SPR™) biosensor platform.

Carterra’s new assay was used to analyze sera from COVID-19 patients with critical, severe, moderate, and mild symptoms. Although the patients’ sera displayed a wide variation in immune response composition, the strength of antibody binding showed remarkable affinity maturation over time. The results are a breakthrough for testing four parameters simultaneously in a single automated experiment on sera from up to 384 patients, using just 2 µL of serum from each patient. The outcome of the research is important for screening the immune status of COVID-19 patients and will be of great interest for studying population immunity, vaccine efficacy, and the status of neutralizing antibodies. 

Carterra’s LSA platform is the new gold standard in drug discovery research for investigating antibodies and immune responses. The LSA combines patented flow printing microfluidics with HT-SPR, providing simultaneous screening and characterization with full binding kinetic profiles. The LSA platform is employed around the world by dozens of biopharmaceutical, academic, and government labs and was selected by The Gates Foundation to screen and characterize therapeutic antibody candidates for COVID-19. Some antibody candidates discovered and characterized using the LSA have now entered human clinical trials.

The company is developing additional SARS-CoV-2-related assays for its high-throughput LSA platform. These include an assay to detect SARS-CoV-2 RBD mutations that could reduce the efficacy of an antibody therapeutic or vaccine, as well as a comprehensive panel for the in-depth study of the immune response to SARS-CoV-2. An array of SARS-CoV-2 proteins, subdomains, and peptides will give researchers the most comprehensive insight into serum immune reactivity, specificity, and epitope binding.

“The pandemic has forced the scientific community to find ways to discover and develop therapeutics and vaccines at light speed,” said Chris Silva, Carterra’s Vice President of Global Marketing and Product. “Carterra’s LSA and emerging assay portfolio are well positioned to enable this paradigm shift. Our new assay for measuring the concentration and binding of IgG, IgM, and IgA antibodies in COVID-19 patients and the availability of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein RBD SPR Biosensor Chip are the latest innovations.”

About Carterra, Inc.

Carterra® is the leading provider of high throughput technologies designed to accelerate and improve the discovery of novel therapeutic candidates. Carterra’s LSA™ instrument, software, and consumables for monoclonal antibody (mAb) characterization deliver up to 100 times the throughput of existing platforms in 10% of the time while using only 1% of the sample required by other systems. The LSA combines patented microfluidics technology with real-time high throughput Surface Plasmon Resonance (HT-SPR) and industry-leading data analysis and visualization software to revolutionize mAb screening. Carterra, Inc. is based in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has Customer Experience Centers in San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Boston, and Munich, Germany.

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