NIAID and Battelle Partner on Assays to Improve COVID-19 Vaccine Analysis

Funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), researchers at Department of Energy (DOE) partner Battelle have developed a microneutralization assay that uses live SARS-CoV-2 virus to analyze the neutralizing response against the virus in human serum samples. The assay is particularly useful for testing samples from vaccine clinical trials.

It’s one of several Battelle research projects Battelle is tackling to fight COVID-19, including vaccine development, decontamination technologies, and studies that show the persistence of the virus on library and museum materials. Battelle also developed SARS-C0V-2 diagnostic testing to support the state of Ohio's surveillance, and has adopted an FDA-authorized saliva test to identify and isolate critical support staff and maintain business continuity.

With funding through an existing National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) contract, Battelle has worked on process improvements and assay validation, as well as transferring the assay for use by other contract research organizations supporting the federal response to COVID-19.

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