FDA gives an emergency approval for coronavirus anti-body test

An emergency approval has been given by the Food and Drug Administration for a coronavirus anti-body test which has about 100 percent accuracy level. Roche, which is a drug manufacturer has said that the anti-body test has some incredible accuracy level and helps to determine if anyone was infected with coronavirus. It was found that the test had 100 percent accuracy while funding anti-bodies (which is the evidence of a past infection) and 99.8 percent accurate while determining the absence of such anti-bodies.

Thomas Schinecker, the head of the diagnostics said that when the blood is drawn from a finger prick then the level of accuracy can change than when the blood is being drawn from the vein. The head added that the specificity has to be very high as even 1.0 percent or 0.2 percent could make a difference. At the same time, Schinecker has specified that just because the anti-bodies are present that does not mean that someone is going to be immune of the virus and cannot be re-infected. The head of the diagnostics added that more research is needed on this front.

The company has assured that it will be manufacturing the tests in high numbers per month. Many other drug manufacturers in the market like Becton Dickinson and Co, Abbott Laboratories and DiaSorin from Italy have also received an emergency approval for the FDA. On the other hand the House Oversight Committee has appealed to the FDA to take away the anti-body tests from the market which are faulty.

The reason behind banning such faulty anti-body tests is that such false negative or positive results could increase the risk of spreading of the virus. Coronavirus pandemic has affected a number of businesses in the globe. A number of drug companies are also working towards a vaccine that can be used to cure the different kinds of coronavirus.

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