Bio, April 9 -- Rad Laboratories, Inc., a global leader of life science research and clinical diagnostic products, today announced that the company is launching a blood-based immunoassay kit to identify antibodies to the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the virus associated with COVID-19.

Preliminary performance of the assay has been established and the kit is now undergoing clinical evaluation in several hospitals to further confirm clinical performance. Initial data collected on more than 700 samples has demonstrated specificity above 99 percent.

After infection with SARS-CoV-2, viral antigens stimulate the body's immune system to produce antibodies to fight the virus. Bio-Rad believes its blood-based immunoassay kit will help clinicians deter...