St James Hospital antibody test detects people’s immune reaction to COVID-19

The St James private hospital has launched an antibody test for COVID-19, with the first patients having already been tested.

The Roche test, offered by St James’s Medical Laboratory Services in collaboration with Vivian Corporation, is intended as an aid in determining people’s immune reaction to COVID-19.

The Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 test is an immunoassay for the in vitro qualitative detection of antibodies to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV- 2) in human serum and plasma.

The test has a high clinical sensitivity of 100% if tested 14 days after a positive swab, with overall specificity of 99.81%.

In a test of 5272 samples obtained before the COVID-19 pandemic, the test exhibits high overall clinical specificity of 99.81% with no cross-reactivity to the common cold coronaviruses.

Paul Sultana, owner of Medical Laboratory Services, said the launch of the test was a milestone that testified to MLS’s commitment in being at the forefront of science, providing healthcare professionals the best possible diagnostic resources.

Reuben Fava, business development manager at Vivian responsible for laboratory equipment and medical devices, said this was the first antibody test available to the Maltese residents “in super record time and one of the first in Europe.”

The Vivian and Roche partnership has been active for over 65 years operating both in the private market as well as the public sector with various key stakeholders to promote and innovate patient-centric healthcare approaches in Malta and Gozo.