FDA approves test designed to measure specific COVID-19 antibody levels

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved a "new generation" COVID-19 antibody test which is designed to tell how well people are protected against subsequent infection.

Most antibody tests are able to determine whether a person has contracted the virus or not, and some can estimate the level of neutralizing antibodies someone has, CNBC notes. But the newly-authorized COVID-SeroKlir developed by Kantaro BioSciences measures specific levels.

The catch is that scientists aren't sure if high levels of antibody guarantee COVID-19 immunity, so the test won't necessarily serve as proof that someone is protected against re-infection just yet. What it will do, however, is allow researchers to gain a better understanding about the correlation between antibody levels and immunity, which will come in handy both for people who have been exposed to the virus already and for vaccine development.

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"It's going to broadly enable studies of immunity and the relationship between immunity and the level of antibodies that an individual has," said Erik Lium, the commercial innovation officer for the Mount Sinai Health System, which joined up with diagnostic startup Renalytix to form Kantaro. Read more at CNBC.