A Duke University team has developed the COVID variant spike-ACE2-Competitive Antibody Neutralization Assay (CoVariant-SCAN).  This test detects the neutralizing antibodies that are capable of blocking interaction between the ACE2 human receptor protein and the spike protein expressed by variants of SARS-COV-2.  The purpose of the test is to rapidly determine the specific monoclonal antibody to use to treat patients presenting with severe COVID symptoms.

The test can also be used to assess the efficacy of vaccines against emerging and circulating variants within regions.  The CoVariant-SCAN procedure will also be used to screen monoclonal antibody therapeutics in relation to emerging and circulating variants. The new test requires approximately an hour to perform replacing more complicated procedures requiring live virus and cell systems that may take days to complete.

Ongoing studies are aimed at refining the procedure to be conducted using a microfluidic chip and requiring a finger prick of blood with the result available in less than 30 minutes.