PictArray™ COVID-19 Antibody Test: Demonstrates High Clinical Performance Against Standardized COVID 19 Samples
Antibody Test from Pictor begins clinical trials; soon to secure FDA Emergency Use Authorization
AUCKLAND, New Zealand, March 25, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Pictor Limited, which specializes in miniaturized diagnostics for complex and infectious diseases, today announced PictArray™ COVID-19, a novel test for COVID-19 antibodies designed to get people back to work and school safely. PictArray™ demonstrated high clinical performance against standardized COVID 19 Samples, making high-volume testing for vaccine efficacy and large patient populations feasible for the first time.
Clinical trials for FDA Emergency Use Authorization of PictArray™ COVID-19 will start in late May and are expected to end by July.
In a recent preliminary head-to-head comparison with competitors, PictArray™ demonstrated high clinical performance against standardized COVID 19 Samples. The test enables rapid assessment of both natural and vaccine induced immunity for the first time.
The PictArray™ COVID-19 miniaturized test format enables multiple applications in an affordable, rapid and accurate system. "No other test delivers such high sensitivity and specificity at a cost that is an order of magnitude lower than its competitors," said Pictor CEO Dr. Thomas Schlumpberger. "Vaccines will play a critical role in transitioning from pandemic conditions, but that's only part of the solution. Reliable, large scale and affordable antibody testing to monitor response and assess efficacy over time is essential to success."
The PictArray™ COVID-19 test achieves superior sensitivity and specificity over competitors because it uses multiple antibody targets for both the spike and nucleocapsid virus proteins. Most tests only measure the spike protein; the Pictor test measures two epitopes of the virus' spike protein and three epitopes of the virus' nucleocapsid protein. The epitope is the part of the antigen that binds to a specific antigen receptor.
"The PictArray™ COVID-19 test collects more information than any other test on the market," said Pictor CEO Dr. Thomas Schlumpberger. "The combination of these test targets helps ensure that we can capture many variants circulating in the population, including the small percentage not caught by current 'spike protein-only' tests."
In addition, Pictor recently closed a series E Funding that was oversubscribed.
About Pictor
Pictor was founded in 2005 by two entrepreneurial scientists, Dr. Anand Kumble and Dr. Sarita Kumble. The company focuses on diagnosing complex diseases from a single small blood sample using its proprietary PictArrays. Pictor now has a team of 20 employees located in New Zealand, USA, Europe and India. In India, over 250 laboratories are using Pictor's multiplex PictArrays to screen for maternal infections, autoimmune diseases and hepatitis. Pictor is commercialising its multiplex technology platform through the on-going development of an expanding portfolio of tests for infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, and other complex diseases.
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SOURCE PictArray
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