Sino Biological and Nanommune Inc. to Develop a Novel Coronavirus Multiplex Serological Assay

Sino Biological, Inc. has announced a co-development agreement with Nanommune Inc., an Irvine, California based biotechnology company specializing in the development and application of multiplex array technology. Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies will jointly develop coronavirus antigen array products for serological studies of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. The two companies also debuted the first product this week under Sino Biological’s new brand Sinommune^TM. This new product features 65 viral antigens from six major groups of the viral superfamily that can lead to respiratory infections, including coronavirus (SARS-COV-2 and others), PIV, RSV, MPV, adenovirus, and influenza. The array will be used for serosurveillance studies of the aforementioned viruses in affected populations.

“We’re very excited about this strategic alliance. This collaboration is built upon the companies’ shared interest in fighting infectious disease, a task now seems more important than ever,” Sino Biological CEO Dr. Jie Zhang stated. “The collaboration allows us to make our recombinant coronavirus antigens available on a microarray multiplex-based platform, which enables rapid profiling of antibodies interacting with these targets in biological samples. I believe this will be a very useful resource for vaccine development and epidemiological studies.”

In a recent joint study published on bioRxiv, researchers from University of California Irvine (UCI), Cerus Corporation, University of Maryland, Oregon Health and Science University, and the Vitalant Research Institute used this array to characterize the antibody profile of convalescent blood specimens from eight PCR-confirmed COVID-19 patients and 144 negative control sera collected prior to the pandemic.  The results demonstrated a distinct antibody profile for SARS-COV-2 only in confirmed COVID-19 patients. In comparison, both groups showed comparable reactivity towards antigens from common cold coronavirus and other virus types. This study highlights the potential of this array as a serosurveillance tool in epidemiological studies of COVID-19. The array can also aid in studies to correlate antibody responses with clinical outcomes.

“We are extremely pleased with the performance of the Sinommune array product and believe this platform will serve as a foundational tool for serological studies in the global fight against COVID-19,” said Dr. Philip Felgner, Director of the Vaccine R&C Center at UCI Medical School. “In order for communities around the globe to understand the prevalence and threat posed by COVID-19, a comprehensive serosurveillance program is necessary to provide policy makers, researchers, and front-line medical professionals with the data necessary to forecast and respond to this fast-moving and dynamic threat.”