ProAxsis signs licensing deal with AstraZeneca for antibody test

ProAxsis Limited, the Belfast-based respiratory diagnostics company, has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with the AstraZeneca. 

ProAxsis will take responsibility for completing the validation and global commercialisation of a SARS-CoV-2 (the virus associated with COVID-19) serology ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) developed by an internal research team at AstraZeneca. In return for providing access to the required intellectual property and technical know-how, AstraZeneca will receive an undisclosed royalty fee on future Global net sales of the assay.

Speaking about the agreement, Dr David Ribeiro, CEO of ProAxsis, said: “We’re excited to be involved with this assay to support such a key area of global healthcare need. The research team at AstraZeneca have already completed significant optimisation and validation work, which has demonstrated the assay’s high potential sensitivity and specificity of detecting SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. ProAxsis will extend this work to support the identification of people who have raised antibodies against this challenging virus.”

John Clarkson, chairman of Netscientific plc and ProAxsis, added: “Expanding the product portfolio and customer service offering are stated goals for ProAxsis, so we’re delighted with the continued progress and reaching this mutually beneficial agreement with AstraZeneca. Following the huge impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on society, it’s excellent news that we can play our part in the COVID-19 response and help deliver real benefits to the community, through the application of ProAxsis’ expertise in respiratory assays.” 

Ruth March, SVP, Precision Medicine, AstraZeneca said: “The development of this serology ELISA by our team is another example of AstraZeneca’s comprehensive response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This highly sensitive and specific blood test makes use of simple and convenient fingerstick sample collection that will be well suited to large scale deployment and has the potential to play an important role in antibody analyses in large populations.”