Private equity firm Carlyle Group Inc-backed Ortho Clinical Diagnostics said on Wednesday its COVID-19 antibody testing program received a grant of $678,000 from the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).
The medical firm said it currently makes two COVID-19 tests - a total antibody test that detects all COVID-19 antibodies and the IgG test, which detects a specific antibody that appears in the patient's blood in the later phase of the infection and remains elevated even after recovery.
Ortho Clinical said both tests had received emergency use clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in April, and currently produces millions of tests per week. (https://reut.rs/3hDTnQP)
U.S. federal agency BARDA has invested billions in the development of testing kits, vaccines and treatments against the novel coronavirus, which has infected more than 2 million and killed over 116,000 in the country.
(Reporting by Saumya Sibi Joseph in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.)
