SugenTech Begins Development of 'Immune Response' Test Kit to Accelerate COVID-19 Antibody Treatment and Vaccine Development

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] SuzenTec is moving forward with the development of a COVID-19 virus 'immune response' test kit, which is essential for the development of COVID-19 vaccines and antibody therapeutics, following its development of a novel coronavirus (COVID-19) diagnostic kit. The 'immune response' test kit can immediately determine on-site whether immune antibodies against COVID-19 have been generated, which is expected to accelerate the development speed of vaccines and antibody therapeutics.

On the 12th, SuzenTec announced that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Y-Biologics, a specialized antibody development company, to develop a 'COVID-19 neutralizing antibody quantitative test kit' that can check whether immune response to the COVID-19 virus has occurred.

'Neutralizing antibodies' are antibodies that have the ability to neutralize the infectivity of the virus and defend against it. The generation of neutralizing antibodies means that immunity against the virus has been established. While COVID-19 antibody diagnostic kits measure IgM and IgG antibodies produced upon infection to diagnose infection status, neutralizing antibody measurement is essential to diagnose whether people have immunity against the COVID-19 virus.

Through this MOU, Y-Biologics will be responsible for developing the target proteins of neutralizing antibodies and the neutralizing antibodies themselves based on its antibody library and antibody development technology, while SuzenTec will be responsible for developing the 'neutralizing antibody quantitative test kit' that enables on-site testing and large-scale screening using these resources.

Confirming the generation of neutralizing antibodies is essential to verify the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines and antibody therapeutics currently under development. However, diagnostic kits capable of testing this have not yet been developed. SuzenTec expects that the development of this neutralizing antibody test kit will further accelerate the development speed of COVID-19 vaccines and antibody therapeutics.

Son Mijin, CEO of SuzenTec, said, “We expect to accelerate the development of the neutralizing antibody test kit through joint development with Y-Biologics, which possesses outstanding antigen expression and antibody development capabilities,” adding, “By developing the neutralizing antibody test kit, we will establish a COVID-19 diagnostic product portfolio ranging from antibody rapid diagnostic kits and antigen rapid diagnostic kits to neutralizing antibody test kits, and we expect to become a leading company in the global COVID-19 diagnostic market.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.