EORLA Teams Up with Roche Diagnostics for COVID-19 Antibody Research

 OTTAWA, ON, Aug. 4, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ – Roche Diagnostics, a division of Hoffmann-La Roche Limited, and the Eastern Ontario Regional Laboratory Association (EORLA) are pleased to announce a major collaborative research initiative on SARS-CoV-2 serology. The EORLA research team will conduct a randomized seroprevalence study of 4,400 people in Eastern Ontario to identify how many have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 and for how long those antibodies remain detectable in the body.

More info about Eastern Ontario Regional Laboratory Association (EORLA)

“Our objective is to establish an estimate of the number of Eastern Ontario residents who have been exposed to SARS-CoV-2, but may not be aware of their exposure,” said Dr. Christopher McCudden, Deputy Chief Medical/Scientific Officer at EORLA and leader of the study. “We will aim to quantify this exposure first among high-risk hospital out-patients. They are mobile, living in the community, but still need to come to hospital for regular blood tests and follow-up.”

The study is also intended to learn more about the pattern by which the amount of antibodies rises and falls over time in SARS-CoV-2 patients. By doing so, EORLA researchers hope to determine the longevity of antibody production in patients, critically important to pandemic response and recovery planning, with wide applications and benefits both regionally and nationally. The study will cover the Champlain Region of Ontario, which includes the National Capital Region and communities east of Algonquin park between the Quebec and New York state borders.

“We are proud to partner with the EORLA for this seroprevalence study using Elecsys® Anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody test, which we are confident will bring reliable results to better manage the COVID-19 health crisis in Ontario,” said Michele D’Elia, Medical Director of Roche Diagnostics. “This study will help answer key questions about COVID-19 epidemiology and immunity and is one of our many efforts across the country to help better understand the dynamics of the pandemic in Canada.”

Study results will be invaluable to workers in long-term care homes, regional health centres and hospitals, and the community at large. Further, the study could provide a better understanding of the extent of herd immunity.

About antibody testing

An antibody test, also called a serology test, is used to determine whether a person might have mounted an immune response against a pathogen or not. In the current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, antibody tests need to be able to specifically detect antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 with no cross-reactivity to other similar coronaviruses, which could generate a false positive result and thus wrongly indicate potential COVID infection. A false positive result happens when a person receives a positive test result, when they should have received a negative result. False positives are particularly critical when we do not know how many people in a given population have been exposed to the virus.

About EORLA

The Eastern Ontario Regional Laboratory Association (EORLA) is a member-owned, non-profit organization encompassing the operation of 18 licensed, acute-care, hospital-based clinical laboratories that service clinical programs across the Champlain Region of Eastern Ontario. A leading, innovative model of integrated laboratory practices in the province, the purpose of EORLA is to deliver patient-focused, consistent, high-quality and cost-effective hospital-based laboratory services to meet the needs of the region’s patients. EORLA laboratories provide diagnostic testing to both hospital inpatients and registered outpatients, performing a total of approximately 13 million tests annually. Comprehensive testing in the disciplines of Anatomic Pathology, Biochemistry, Transfusion Medicine, Hematopathology, and Microbiology/Virology is performed.