Meso Scale Diagnostics LLC (MSD), Rockville, MD, announced the commercial release of its V-PLEX Serology Panels for covid-19. The release includes the V-PLEX SARS-CoV-2 Panel 2, which Operation Warp Speed (OWS) has chosen as the basis of its standard binding assays for immunogenicity assessments in all funded Phase III clinical trials of vaccines.
The serology tests are provided as complete kits, including the same reference standards and controls that will be used in OWS laboratories to analyze clinical trial samples, making it possible for OWS scientists to directly compare quantitative results between different clinical trials. Vaccine developers who use the OWS assays based on the V-PLEX SARS-CoV-2 Panel 2 could leverage correlates of protection established in the early OWS trials, potentially accelerating the development and approval of vaccines worldwide.
“We are tremendously proud to support the worldwide effort to develop covid-19 vaccines, and honored that our V-PLEX Serology Panel has been selected by Operation Warp Speed for use in their Phase III clinical trials,” says Jacob Wohlstadter, MSD president and chief executive officer. “We are excited to make these and other tests in our covid-19 portfolio broadly available to all manufacturers of covid-19 vaccines and therapeutics, as well as to researchers and epidemiologists studying the disease.”
MSD’s V-PLEX Serology Panels were developed in collaboration with the Vaccine Research Center (VRC), part of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The tests have been in use for covid-19 vaccine development and have been cited in several publications describing pre-clinical and Phase I/II results of leading vaccine candidates.
“Our collaborations with the Vaccine Research Center at NIAID and with individuals and organizations around the world have been extraordinary,” says James Wilbur, chief business officer of MSD. “It’s been inspiring to be part of a shared mission, and to see the dedication and spirit of cooperation as the world has responded to the covid-19 pandemic.”
MSD’s V-PLEX Serology Panels for covid-19 use multiplex technology to simultaneously measure antibodies to many different viral antigens from a single sample. They measure a broad immune response to give a more complete picture of the serological response to vaccination and of SARS-CoV-2 infection and immunity.
The V-PLEX serology tests are offered in pre-configured panels that include antigens related to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, other coronaviruses, and several common respiratory pathogens. MSD also makes custom serology panels, including panels that combine MSD’s antigens with antigens provided by customers. The tests use MSD’s proprietary Multi-Array technology, which has been widely used in the development of drugs and in numerous clinical trials for vaccines.
For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.
For more information, visit Meso Scale Diagnostics.
Featured image: This illustration of SARS-CoV-2, created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reveals ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses, such as SARS-CoV-2, which causes covid-19.
