Imanis Life Sciences Announces Improvements and Increased Capacity of IMMUNO-COV™, a First-in-Class Neutralizing Antibody Test for COVID-19

High-throughput clinical assay detects and quantifies SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies

ROCHESTER, Minn., Nov. 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ^Imanis Life Sciences, LLC (“Imanis” or “The Company”) announced today that it has completed validation of its latest improved IMMUNO-COV^TM assay, the first scalable, quantitative virus neutralizing antibody test for COVID-19. This validation adds plasma as an accepted sample type, and improves sensitivity, stability and reliability while maintaining high accuracy. The Company also announced that it has been processing samples from its research partners and has completed steps necessary to increase test processing capacity in its CLIA-accredited facility in Rochester, Minn.

“IMMUNO-COV’s performance has been outstanding over a large validation group and across a variety of customer samples,” said Michael Herbert, Chief Commercial Officer at Imanis. “With increased lab capacity and enough manufactured virus on-hand to run over five million tests, we anticipate strong interest in the assay and are ready to expand availability across all areas of critical need.” 

Imanis has been processing tests for research partners for several weeks. At this time, its lab is equipped to address large scale testing requirements for:

• Evaluating the relative effectiveness of SARS-COV-2 vaccine candidates in clinical trials.
• Testing healthcare workers and other at-risk professionals with prior SARS-CoV-2 infections to assess the strength and durability of their immunity to COVID-19 over time. 
• Physician ordered tests where indicated for patients presumed or suspected to have been exposed to the virus (or a vaccine) more than 2 weeks prior to testing.

IMMUNO-COV detects and quantifies virus neutralizing antibodies, which can prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the body, the virus that causes COVID-19. Neutralizing antibodies become detectable in the blood approximately 14 days after the onset of infection. IMMUNO-COV was jointly developed by affiliates Imanis and Vyriad, Inc., in collaboration with Regeneron and Mayo Clinic. 

About Imanis Life Sciences 
Imanis Life Sciences is a leading provider of laboratory assays and research services that can accelerate the development of a broad range of virus-based gene therapies and immuno-oncology drugs. Our mission is to strengthen the pharmacological underpinnings of virus-based therapeutics and to promote the adoption of noninvasive in vivo reporter gene imaging in preclinical and clinical research.  Our team of dedicated and passionate scientists (PhD, MSc, BSc) works closely with clients to facilitate their preclinical or clinical-stage virus-based research and development programs. For more information, visit https://imanis-immunocov.com/.

CONTACT: 
Media Contact
Will Johnson
Antenna Group
imanis@antennagroup.com
(201) 465-8019  


Company Inquiries
Michael Herbert
Chief Commercial Officer 
Imanis Life Sciences
Herbert.michael@imanislife.com
(612) 309-7801