AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Luminex
Corporation (NASDAQ: LMNX) today announced that it has received an
award of $683,500 from the Biomedical
Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response
within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to support
the enhancement of the company's xMAP® SARS-CoV-2
Multi-Antigen IgG Assay. The company intends to submit this
enhanced serology assay for an Emergency Use Authorization when
this project is completed.
The xMAP SARS-CoV-2 Multi-Antigen IgG Assay detects antibodies
to three different viral antigens—the spike protein, nucleocapsid,
and receptor-binding domain—to assess if a person has been infected
with SARS-CoV-2. In this new BARDA-funded project, information from
all three of these antigens will be integrated to provide a more
comprehensive view of a person's immune status. By combining all of
this information in one assay, Luminex seeks to create a test that
not only identifies prior infection, but also assesses the
neutralizing activity of the immune response.
This information is more important than ever with millions of
confirmed cases of COVID-19 around the world, and the first proven
cases of reinfection having already occurred. As people return to
work, students head back to school, and vaccines become available,
communities will need to understand the extent to which past
infections provide protection against future SARS-CoV-2
infections.
"Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, we have sought to develop tests
based on the latest research and the most immediate clinical needs.
In addition to our SARS-CoV-2 tests that detect active coronavirus
infections, we believe that advanced serology assays will be
instrumental in understanding who has been infected," said Nachum
"Homi" Shamir, Chairman, President and CEO of Luminex. "We
appreciate BARDA's support as we continue to develop solutions that
can help improve patient outcomes during this global pandemic."
The currently available xMAP SARS-CoV-2 Multi-Antigen IgG
Assay delivers high-quality results for up to 96 patient samples in
less than four hours. The assay has demonstrated specificity
of 100 percent in human serum and greater than 99 percent in human
plasma, with sensitivity greater than 96 percent for both human
serum and plasma (more than 14 days post-symptom onset) in clinical
studies. The assay, which can be run on any
of Luminex's xMAP-based high-throughput platforms, uses
advanced multiplexing capabilities to reduce the risk of false
positives and false negatives. The U.S. Food and Drug
Administration granted Emergency Use Authorization for this assay
on July 20, 2020.
This project has been funded at approximately 37% of the
expected overall cost of development with Federal funds from the
Department of Health and Human Services; Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Preparedness and Response; Biomedical Advanced
Research and Development Authority, Division of Research Innovation
and Ventures under Contract No. 75A50120C00179.
About Luminex Corporation
At Luminex, our mission is
to empower labs to obtain reliable, timely, and actionable answers,
ultimately advancing health. We offer a wide range of solutions
applicable in diverse markets including clinical diagnostics,
pharmaceutical drug discovery, biomedical research, genomic and
proteomic research, biodefense research, and food safety. We
accelerate reliable answers while simplifying complexity and
deliver certainty with a seamless experience. To learn more about
Luminex, please visit us at luminexcorp.com.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
This press release contains forward-looking
statements relating to Luminex's business outlook for the third
quarter, as well as other statements that refer to future plans and
expectations, particularly around the development or enhancement of
specific products to address the novel coronavirus. Such statements
involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Words such as
"believe," "will," "can" and variations of such words and similar
expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.
Statements that refer to or are based on estimates, forecasts,
projections, uncertain events or assumptions, and anticipated
trends in our businesses or the markets relevant to them, also
identify forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on
management's expectations as of the date they were first made and,
except as required by law, Luminex disclaims any obligation to
update these statements to reflect future events or circumstances.
Forward-looking statements involve many risks and uncertainties
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
expressed or implied in such statements. Important factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially from the company's
expectations include changes in market conditions, supply
constraints and other disruptions, changes in capital requirements,
and other factors set forth in Luminex's most recent Annual Report
on Form 10-K filed with the SEC and available at Luminex's website
at www.luminexcorp.com and the SEC's website at sec.gov.
Investor Contacts:
Harriss Currie
Sr. Vice President of Finance and CFO
hcurrie@luminexcorp.com
512-219-8020
Media Contact:
Michele Parisi
Bioscribe
mparisi@bioscribe.com
925-864-5028
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SOURCE Luminex Corporation