‘A disaster’: Roche CEO’s verdict on some COVID-19 antibody tests – By John Miller (Reuters) / April 22 2020
ZURICH (Reuters) – Some blood tests being marketed to tell people if they have had the new coronavirus are a “disaster”, Roche (ROG.S) Chief Executive Severin Schwan said on Wednesday as he prepares to launch the drugmaker’s own antibody test next month.
Roche’s (ROG.S) diagnostics business has moved out of the shadow of its main medicines unit during the pandemic, as the Swiss pharma giant confirmed its 2020 sales and profit outlook amid rising demand for COVID-19 testing.
Countries around the world hope such blood tests – meant to show whether people exposed to the disease have developed antibodies thought to offer some immunity – will guide efforts to restart their economies and keep healthcare workers safe.
An erroneous false-positive result could lead to the mistaken conclusion that someone has immunity. In developing its test, Schwan said, Roche scrutinised some existing products for reliability before rejecting them.
“It’s a disaster. These tests are not worth anything, or have very little use,” Schwan told reporters on a conference call. “Some of these companies, I tell you, this is ethically very questionable to get out with this stuff.”
Schwan said there were about 100 such tests on offer, including finger-prick assays that offer a quick result. The Basel-based company declined to specify which rival tests it had studied, but said it was not referring to tests from established testing companies.
Continue to article: https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-roche-results/a-disaster-roche-ceos-verdict-on-some-covid-19-antibody-tests-idUKKCN2240JS
