Spear Bio has licensed Harvard Technology to develop a covid antibody test

This colorized scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (round blue objects), the virus that causes Covid-19, emerging from lab-grown cells. [Image courtesy of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases]

A new start-up, Spir Bio, from Harvard University’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering plans to commercialize ultra-sensitive protein detection technology.

Boston-based Spar Bio has licensed the DNA nanotechnology-directed Sequence Affinity Amplification Reaction (SPEAR) through a worldwide exclusive agreement with Harvard’s Office of Technology Development.

Spear Bio will develop a reagent-based platform with a focus on research-use-only applications in small-volume samples, Harvard said in a news release.

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The first effort will be to commercialize a test using a drop of blood or other biofluid to measure antibodies (NAbs) against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. Measuring those antibodies helps understand immunity and vaccine effectiveness, and doing so with small samples enables new research and diagnostics.

“The high sensitivity offered by SPEAR in very small sample volumes and readability by conventional PCR instruments provides unique potential for the development of microsampling-based in vitro assays that can transform academic and clinical research in a variety of disease areas,” said Feng Xuan, co-founder and chief technical officer of SPEAR Bio, in the release. They said.

Xuan developed the technology with co-inventors Cherry Fan and Yu Wang. Wang is now Spear Bio’s Acting Head of Application Development. All Wis Core faculty members were members of Peng Yin’s group.

“SPR’s innovation was enabled by key advances we made at Wyss,” said Yin, co-founder of Sphere Bio. The research platform that Feng Shuan built and risk-adjusted with other members of the lab now has great potential to develop immunological products for clinical research and in vitro tests in the near future.

Yin co-founded other startups using Harvard-licensed tech, including 3EO Health, which is promoting an at-home, PCR-based Covid-testing system.

How SPEAR technology works, in Harvard’s words:

“With SPEAR… small amounts of proteins, including NABS, can be detected by target bindings that are different but close in protein structure. This close double-labeling event allows the two probes to ‘shake hands’, whose interaction can be amplified and measured using standard qPCR tools by combining a specially engineered sequence extension reaction and a unique DNA sequence. Importantly, in the absence of detection targets, the interaction between free-floating probes does not allow the integration of the entire DNA sequence, significantly reducing the background compared to conventional proximity-based assays. SPEAR outperforms other protein detection assays by combining high sensitivity, wash-free workflow, and functionality with a wide range of target protein levels (dynamic range) that can be fully effective with sample volumes as low as 1 µL. The technology was de-risked by the Whis translation engine, where it achieved the first stage of a validation project and then the stage of an institute project designed to commercialize high-value technologies. success”