Rapid COVID-19 Breath Test Could Evaluate Efficacy of Coronavirus Vaccines

A first of its kind clinical trial in the world will evaluate the ability of a rapid COVID-19 breath test to monitor the antibody levels and type of antibodies developed by the population of subjects getting vaccinated for the coronavirus.

Scentech-Medical Inc. (Tel-Aviv, Israel) has received approval for conducting the new clinical trial from the Shamir Medical Center (Asaf Harofe) Review Board (Helsinki committee). As part of the research, Scentech-Medical will test subjects getting vaccinated to map biomarkers specifically related to antibodies of type IgM and IgG. The test to monitor antibody levels and type (which is being developed concurrently with the rapid breath test for coronavirus detection) will be able to provide a quick indication as to the efficacy of all vaccines available on the market, including the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Moreover, such a test has the potential to indicate the immune system's response to various types of vaccines.

There is a clear need for a diagnostic tool that can provide information regarding the immunity levels and efficacy durations of those immunized. Monitoring antibody levels and type of antibodies is of utmost importance due to the fact that there are multiple coronavirus vaccines available on the market and even more expected to come to market in the near future.

Additionally, Scentech-Medical also continues its ongoing clinical trial for the detection of coronavirus positive subjects at the Shamir Medical Center (Asaf Harofe). As part of the trial, the company is verifying the biomarkers that were mapped after its early clinical trials. Scentech-Medical believes that its breath test technology can detect both symptomatic coronavirus active carriers as well as asymptomatic carriers. The VOX system developed by the company was able to detect differences among various test groups: positive subjects, negative subjects, and negative subjects with antibodies for the coronavirus. The company believes that by using the test it has developed for the analysis and quantification of volatile compounds in breath, it can detect coronavirus patients, active symptomatic, and asymptomatic carriers. It may even give an indication of the body's immune response as reflected by the type and level of antibodies expressed by the body.

Scentech-Medical is also working on completing its global analysis system which combines advanced artificial intelligence and unique algorithms developed by the company. This system is aimed for the rapid and automated analysis of data collected by the company's devices to monitor disease spread, detect new mutations of the coronavirus, and identify new disease outbreaks in real-time on both a local and global level. The development of the global analysis system is expected to enter alpha testing within a month.

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