Atrys Health S A : The study led by Atrys and Vithas on the impact of Covid-19 will incorporate an immunological assay from Kantaro Biosciences with technology developed by researchers at Mount Sinai Health System

Madrid, 23 February 2021. Atrys Health (BME:ATRY), the leading company in precision medical diagnosis and treatment based in Spain, and Fundación Vithas, associated with one of the largest private medicine organizations in Spain, will enhance their scientific collaboration on the impact of Covid-19 on health workers with the use of new immunoassays based on technology developed by leading investigators at the Mount Sinai Health System in New York.

This clinical study aims at evaluating the immune response to Covid-19 of a cohort of healthcare professionals from Vithas Hospitals, many of whom were exposed to the SARS-CoV-2virus as they attended Covid-19 patients from the early days of the pandemic.

The project will incorporate COVID-SeroIndex, a new immunological assay from Kantaro Biosciences, a majority-controlled Mount Sinai venture created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which is based on underlying technology developed by Florian Krammer, Mount Sinai Professor in Vaccinology, and Carlos Cordón-Cardó, the Irene Heinz Given and John LaPorte Given Professor and Chair of the Lillian and Henry M. Stratton-Hans Popper Department of Pathology, Molecular and Cell-Based Medicine at the Mount Sinai Health System in New York.

The study also includes an investigation of the genetic signatures involved in response to infection, with the objective of identifying genetic biomarkers associated with susceptibility or resistance to infection and thus collect information to enable improved diagnostics and therapy the disease.

The new immunoassay, COVID-SeroIndex, has received the CE-IVD certification for clinical diagnostics in the European Union and has been selected for this study because itdetermines with quantitative precision the levels of antibodies capable of neutralizing SARS-CoV-2, which may provide immunity against Covid-19. The underlying technology for COVID-SeroIndex has been tested by the Clinical Laboratories of The Mount Sinai Hospital and does not require proprietary equipment for its deployment. The underlying technology has already been used to analyze approximately 90,000 patient samples, demonstrating that it can accurately determine the presence and levels of neutralizing IgG antibodies that are generated as part of the immune response to the SARS CoV2 virus.

Quantitative neutralizing antibody assays are of great importance for evaluating an individual's immune status as well as their response to vaccination and to inform health care decision-making and public health policies. Prof. Cordón-Cardó said, 'it is a great satisfaction to advise relevant scientific studies employing Kantaro's COVID-SeroIndex test. This new immunoassay will be key in determining which individuals achieve high levels of neutralizing antibodies, which early data shows may provide immediate and effective protection against Covid-19.'

Santiago de Torres, Atrys Executive Chairman, said 'with this new collaboration with first rate biomedical research centers, Atrys strengthens its capabilities in the field of advanced diagnostics, and contributes to meet the challenges of the global efforts to achieve control of the Covid-19 pandemic.'

Dr. Ángel Ayuso, corporate scientific director of Vithas and managing director of Fundación Vithas, highlights Vithas commitment on promoting translational research of excellence: 'Being able to obtain results with great speed and precision will allow us to improve the management of our personal health in future epidemic waves'.

Atrys has signed a marketing and distribution agreement with Bio-Techne, a world leader in the development, manufacturing and commercialization of innovative tools and bioactive reagents for the research and clinical diagnostic communities, and Kantaro Biosciences. The agreement provides for the offer of COVID-SeroIndex and COVID-SeroKlir, quantitative SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody test kits as well as serology services based on these, in select European and South American territories, including Spain, Portugal, Colombia, Brazil, Peru and Chile. Both COVID-SeroKlir and COVID-SeroIndex have received CE marking.