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If you havent watched this short news clip from LA take a look! https://www.foxla.com/video/672111
BMRA is ready once something materializes! Seems to be in accumulation both under 7$ And now 8$?!? Upside potential here is very significant and will make a leapsoon! I guess what happened a few weeks ago kinda spells that out!
Perhaps $11.00+ tomorrow morning.
Sorry, wasn't mentioned specifically, but the technology was mentioned.
GLTA.
Could a simple blood test for COVID-19 antibodies help reopen the economy?
BioMerica mentioned here:
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/simple-blood-test-covid-19-antibodies-reopen-economy/story?id=70024837&cid=clicksource_4380645_4_heads_hero_live_twopack_hed
Real nice jump after hours. Sweet. More to come I hope.
Sounds like good news coming.
Let’s hope soon before interest dies down if it does I may add some more
When will FDA approval happen? Also, they said they can start sending out tests in weeks.
I avg down on Friday we get the fda approval and see you back at $20
Beautiful start to the week. Lets go!
The coronavirus test that might exempt you from social distancing—if you pass
There is a lot of hype around the potential for antibody testing to help get us back outside sooner rather than later. Here’s how it works.
by Neel V. Patel
Apr 2, 2020
blood test coronavirus
A demonstration of a covid-19 blood test developed by Surescreen Diagnostics.
CHRISTOPHER FURLONG / GETTY IMAGES
On Monday, President Trump announced that the US had tested over a million patient samples for coronavirus, by far more than any other country in the world. Though the horrendously slow rollout of testing has already set America back in its effort to stop the spread of covid-19, testing is still vital. To beat the virus and stop its spread, says the World Health Organization, we need to identify those who are infected and isolate them, as well as those at risk (who ought to be self-isolating too, whether they are symptomatic or asymptomatic). We also need to figure out which communities can expect to see a rise in coronavirus cases, and where to allocate resources in anticipation of rising hospitalizations.
As reported by MIT Technology Review a few weeks ago, there’s also a serious need for us to find out who has already been infected and is now, presumably, immune to the virus (at least for a while). Since the coronavirus outbreak began, many different groups have ramped up their efforts to develop a serological test that looks for antibodies to the virus—an indication of whether an individual was once infected. Should a test like this ever become available to the public, it could radically shape how we decide who gets to leave home and return to some semblance of normal life.
You can read all our coverage of the coronavirus/Covid-19 outbreak for free, and also sign up for our coronavirus newsletter. But please consider subscribing to support our nonprofit journalism.
Here are the biggest things you should know about the status of antibody testing for covid-19.
Why do we want antibody testing?
Many infected individuals experience only mild or moderate symptoms that clear out fairly quickly. Since there are simply not enough test kits to go around, a lot of people who aren’t showing more severe symptoms are being turned away for testing. Those individuals (myself included) are effectively in limbo, having no way to verify if they were once sick and now potentially immune, or still at risk of being sick and spreading the virus. Moreover, if we’re not able to test everyone, we have no way to really answer questions such as how widespread the infection is, what the true fatality rate is, and what kinds of measures to stop the spread are actually working.
Antibody testing that’s made available en masse might be able to help answer some of those basic questions. Once we have a better understanding of how immunity works with the coronavirus, it could also give survivors of the infection confirmation that they are now immune, meaning they no longer pose a threat to others and could potentially return to work and public life. This would be especially critical for clinics and hospitals experiencing staffing shortages, or infrastructure and utilities providers who need properly trained workers to keep things like our power grids running.
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How does it work?
When the body is introduced to a pathogen, the immune system develops tailor-made antibodies that act against the infection. Antibodies can last a long time—anywhere from a couple of years to a lifetime, depending on the disease. During the period that immunity lasts, your body is prepared to ramp up production of those antibodies to neutralize the threat should it ever appear again.
An antibody test, also known as a serology test, analyzes a patient’s serum—the liquid portion of blood that excludes cells and clotting factors but includes antibodies. Many of these tests are simple and require only a small sample, like a finger prick. In this case, through a technique like ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay), clinicians look for antibodies that were made in response to the large protein that sticks out of the coronavirus’s surface. A viral fragment is placed on a plate. If there’s an antibody in the patient sample, it will attach to this “spike” protein. Another antibody, engineered by the clinicians and capable of attaching to the first antibody, is introduced to the solution. When they bind, the new antibody will activate an enzyme that changes the color of the solution, indicating that the patient has the antibodies we’re looking for, and has therefore been exposed to the coronavirus.
How is this different from the testing we already do?
The way we’re testing infections right now is by looking for viral genetic material in patient samples. Using a method called polymerase chain reaction (PCR), clinicians can amplify any coronavirus RNA in a patient’s nasal swab so its presence can be confirmed. Viral DNA or RNA can be found in the body as soon as an infection begins, even if you’re asymptomatic. But it disappears soon after the immune system clears the infection out. So this type of test is useful to find out who is currently infected, but not who once was infected.
Antibodies, on the other hand, aren’t developed until several days after infection has taken hold, so they aren’t a useful indicator of who is currently infected. But because they’re around in the blood in large numbers for many months after infection, they would be extremely useful to identify past cases long after the infection has been beaten.
How much does it cost?
A serological test for coronavirus antibodies is much less costly than a PCR test that looks for coronavirus genetic material. California-based Biomerica, for example, sells a serological test for less than $10. A PCR test for covid-19 can cost up to $51 under Medicare.
How fast is it?
You can get results from a serological test in just minutes. Many groups are working on versions that can be run at home, with no need to send samples to a lab. A PCR test takes hours to run, and because samples must typically be shipped back and forth from the testing site, patients usually don’t get results for at least several days (although the FDA is fast-tracking a portable point-of-care genetic test for coronavirus that’s supposed to take less than 15 minutes).
Who’s working on this?
Many, many groups. Singapore, China, and other countries have already conducted limited numbers of antibody testing. A group led by virologist Florian Krammer at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City recently developed an ELISA-based antibody test for covid-19. American companies like Biomerica and Chembio Diagnostics (from New York) are selling antibody tests outside the US, with aggressive plans to get these kits up to snuff for FDA approval. BioMedomics of North Carolina, in collaboration with medical tech company BD, just launched a point-of-care test that can be administered at the doctor’s office and give results in 15 minutes. The UK has its own test, developed by Public Health England, and recently ordered 3.5 million kits to be distributed by Amazon and pharmacies around the country in just a matter of days.
What are the limitations?
Since we still don't know how long covid-19 immunity lasts, the presence of antibodies is not a guarantee a person is totally immune to future reinfection. Similarly, antibodies can’t be used to determine whether someone is still contagious—a follow-up PCR test might be necessary to rule out an ongoing infection. In other words, you’d want to test positive for immunity through an antibody test (even well after the infection is cleared), and negative for the virus through a PCR test.
There is a huge concern about the accuracy of serological tests. PCR testing, for all its drawbacks, is still considered pretty accurate. In an antibody test, however, a patient might test positive for covid-19 because of antibodies against a different coronavirus (like ones that cause the common cold). Two patients might be infected and recover at about the same time, but one’s antibody test might not stay positive as long as the other’s. And again, there is a huge window of uncertainty because it could take up to a week for a body to start generating antibodies against the virus after infection has set in. Taking the test during infection may not deliver a very confident result. An accuracy of, say, 80% still leaves one in five people with a false result. Spain recently recalled more than 8,000 Chinese-made test kits because of worries about inaccurate results. More than a dozen companies that have notified the FDA they are producing antibody tests are allowed to begin distributing the tests to hospitals and doctors’ offices, but they must carry disclaimer statements that read: “This test has not been reviewed by the FDA.” Accuracy and reliability won’t be ensured without validation and experience over time.
And because covid-19 is such a new disease, we don’t know how long immunity will last. Right now the virus seems to be mutating slowly and shouldn’t pose an annual problem like the flu, but we’ve only been studying it for a little over three months. Tony Mazzulli, chief microbiologist with Toronto's Sinai Health, told the New York Times it’s also unclear whether antibodies would prevent infection from exposure to a large amount of the virus, as in a hospital setting.
Mount Sinai to Begin the Transfer of COVID-19 Antibodies into Critically Ill Patients
Mar 24, 2020 | Featured, Infectious Diseases, Research |
Image from Florian Krammer lab. The main target on the surface of most coronaviruses is the spike protein or S. This is a model of the virus and a visualization of a crystal structure of the spike of SARS-CoV-2.
The Mount Sinai Health System this week plans to initiate a procedure known as plasmapheresis, where the antibodies from patients who have recovered from COVID-19 will be transferred into critically ill patients with the disease, with the expectation that the antibodies will neutralize it.
The process of using antibody-rich plasma from COVID-19 patients to help others was used successfully in China, according to a state-owned organization, which reported that some patients improved within 24 hours, with reduced inflammation and viral loads, and better oxygen levels in the blood.
Mount Sinai is collaborating with the New York Blood Center and the New York State Department of Health’s Wadsworth Center laboratory in Albany, with guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and expects to begin implementing the treatment later this week.
For more information on how to donate, click below
Mount Sinai COVID-19 Plasma Donation
“We are hoping to identify patients who can provide the antibodies,” says Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and President for Academic Affairs, Mount Sinai Health System. “We are at the front lines in fighting this pandemic and making discoveries that will help our patients.”
Late last week, researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine, in collaboration with scientists in Australia and Finland, were among the first to create an antibody test that detects the disease’s antibodies in a person’s blood. Development of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was led by Florian Krammer, PhD, Professor of Microbiology, in collaboration with Viviana A. Simon, MD, PhD, Professor of Microbiology and Medicine (Infectious Diseases). Dr. Krammer, a renowned influenza researcher, recently made this so-called recipe available to other laboratories around the world so they can replicate it during the pandemic. In January, his lab was quickly retooled to begin studying COVID-19.
In addition to its widespread use in plasmapheresis, the antibody test will provide experts with an accurate infection rate so they can track the trajectory of the disease. The test will help identify health care workers who are already immune to the disease, who can work directly with infectious patients, and it can also help scientists understand how the human immune system reacts to the virus.
The new assay uses recombinant or manufactured antigens from the spike protein on the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. That protein helps the virus enter cells, and it is a key target in the immune reaction against the virus, as the body creates antibodies that recognize the protein and seek to destroy the virus. The researchers also isolated the short piece of the spike protein called the receptor-binding domain (RBD), which the virus uses to attach to cells it tries to invade. The scientists then used cell lines to produce large quantities of the altered spike proteins and RBDs.
According to Dr. Krammer and his co-authors, the assay is “sensitive and specific,” and allows for the screening and identification of COVID-19 in human plasma/serum as soon as three days after the onset of symptoms. The antibodies were derived from three patients who had the disease. The study’s control participants—who did not have COVID-19 but had other viruses, including the common cold—ranged in age from 20 to 70.
Dr. Krammer says his preliminary findings also show that humans have no natural immunity to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which would help explain why it spreads so quickly. But once the antibody sets in humans do become protected. He also says that at this early stage in the research, there is no evidence that people can lose their immunity and become re-infected.
Never called green close called having a Green Day here! Easy enough!
Nice call on the green close lol
Immunity certificate would be made possible with BioMerica results I believe.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/03/health/immunity-passport-coronavirus-lockdown-intl/index.html
You betcha!
Yup real winner today lol
Always! This is the best testing play there is.
Nice Volume this morning close in the green today!
Lol on some 3k shares
BMRA "If I were emperor and had unlimited resources, I’d do serological testing on every person in this country as fast as I could,” said Dr. David Merin, an emergency room physician with the Emergency Medicine Specialists of Orange County, who said he sees dozens of suspected COVID-19 patients each day and struggles to understand the delay in serological testing."
Brilliant idea for economic recovery: let those immune to #COVID19 go back to work https://t.co/ZptD8dof7E Blood test for im…
https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2020-04-02/coronavirus-test-immunity-detection-accuracy
BMRA A serological test for coronavirus antibodies...
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/615436/the-coronavirus-test-that-might-exempt-you-from-social-distancingif-you-pass/
Wrong, no way, Have never went red on this.
I took position today
The news was humongous today
FDA will give full approval for the new antibody test kits developed by reliable mt. Sinai hospital
This is $50 stick upon FDA news
Just 10 mil OS
I am long
BMRA raising money $12 million from ATM which imo s/b easily done with the elevated volume last few weeks & imo with monster sales increase this money raise will be a drop in the bucket imo..
BMRA a REAL Co. since 1970's unlike fly by night AYTU BMRA has multiple manufacturing plants & as stated in todays PR can produce over 1 MILLION tests a month
Why down with good news today?
You were 100% correct - fluff didn't stick to the wall
BMRA Why One Simple Blood Test May Be All That’s Needed to Get Most Americans Back to Work
https://www.barrons.com/articles/citigroup-analysts-say-blood-testing-could-mean-a-quicker-return-to-work-51585755839?siteid=yhoof2&yptr=yahoo
BIOMERICA is a Quality Stock...pps been trending up since the last 5 years, still not EBITDA Positive but will soon be per
Interesting to Note...Zero Debt.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/biomerica-nasdaq-bmra-share-price-120017202.html
Too Bad for them Chasers from 16 to 23 on the 19th of March...Will it go up their again? with a good and Great CV19 FDA/EUA News...
The Bulls will say Aye
The Bears will Nay
@ current level 7.40 and heavy Discounted of -200%+ from the recent hi of 23+
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/biomerica-signs-two-definitive-agreements-113810314.html
I'm a Mini Bull.:))
This hit 23 bc the float was low and now they are putting out public offerings left and right. I am expecting another on within the next couple weeks
BMRA mentioned here, Dr. Birx @ Physicians Weekly...
https://www.physiciansweekly.com/u-s-companies-labs-rush/
On Monday, Dr. Deborah Birx, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, said simple, finger-prick antibody tests could play an important role, and she suggested the federal government is not waiting on the CDC’s version.
Perfect. Thanks! Some buying should be coming in soon!
BMRA about -200% discount from recent Hi of 23+.
News Contract today is Great...pps may double up quickly when FDA EUA expedited News comes out.jmhtto
Uncle Trump Needs Quick TestKits really Bad!!!
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Trading on the OTC-QB as BMRA.
http://www.biomerica.com/index.asp
Biomerica, Inc. is a global biomedical company that develops, manufactures and markets advanced diagnostic products used at the point-of-care (in home and in physicians' offices ) and in hospital and clinical laboratories for the early detection of medical conditions and diseases. The Company's products are designed to enhance the health and well being of people, while reducing total healthcare costs. Biomerica's primary focus is on products for Diabetes, Gastrointestinal Disease and esoteric testing.
Biomerica is dedicated to exploring new distributorship opportunities to bring our innovative products to the marketplace. Interested parties may contact us at info@biomerica.com.
Please note the new address for our Headquarters:
17571 Von Karman Avenue
Irvine, CA 92614 USA
Tel: 949-645-2111
Fax: 949-553-1231
Since 1971, Biomerica has developed, manufactured, and distributed medical diagnostic products for the early detection and monitoring of chronic diseases and certain medical conditions.
The Company's test kits and devices are sold in three markets:
• Clinical laboratories
• Physician's offices
• Over-the-counter (pharmacies)
Biomerica is proud of its history of product innovation spanning more than three decades in several major clinical areas. It was the first Company to manufacture and market tests for:
• Myoglobin (Cardiac)
• H. Pylori (Digestive Disease)
• Histamine (Allergy)
• Self test for Colon Disease (Digestive)
• Early detection of Diabetes (Diabetes).
All of our products are CE marked for European sales and manufactured under EN ISO 13485:2003 certification.
http://www.biomerica.com/products/index.asp
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