Oncimmune Holdings PLC (LON:ONC) said it has signed a commercial agreement with the world-renowned Cedars-Sinai healthcare group to provide antibody profiling for coronavirus (COVID-19) samples.
Specifically, Oncimmune will analyse serum samples from staff exposed to or infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
It will then identify biomarkers of the disease and compare these to a control set of healthy patient samples.
Last week, Oncimmune was awarded UK funding to help develop a “comprehensive diagnostic tool” for coronavirus called IMPACTT, which stands for Immunity Profiling of Patients with COVID-19 for Therapy and Triage.
Researchers will collect samples and clinical data from 3,000 patients to be studied by Oncimmune to develop and validate an infectious disease NavigAID panel of biomarkers that can then be used in the research.
The tool will be designed to predict both likely patient response to the virus and the potential effectiveness of vaccines and treatments.
Cedars-Sinai will contribute antigens to the panel, and in return, will be the first academic partner to benefit from this IMPACTT programme.
"We are delighted to be partnering with such a prestigious organisation as Cedars-Sinai on this important programme,” said Oncimmune chief executive, Adam Hill in a statement.
“Oncimmune is responding to the global call for innovations to support the fight against COVID-19 by leveraging our capabilities in immune profiling. In so doing we will build on our knowledge of the disease and support the development of vaccines and therapeutics.
“We expect to announce further development collaborations and contracts over the coming months to be followed by contracts with biopharmaceutical companies once the COVID-19 panel is fully validated," he added.