This new $1 antibody test could be the key to defeating COVID-19

British health technology firm Mologic has developed a 10-minute coronavirus antibody test that could help turn the tides in the global fight against the novel coronavirus. The test, which costs just $1, is currently being sent to laboratories for confirmation on its effectiveness. If it passes, it could be the big break everyone needs against this global pandemic.

Mologic, a well known name in medical testing technology, is hoping for the public rollout of the test to take place as early as June this year, depending on lab validation. The test works by detecting the antibodies produced by the body to fight the COVID-19 disease caused by the coronavirus instead of trying to detect the pathogen itself. Mologic says testing and validation of the test is taking place at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and St Georges hospital right now and that samples will be sent out to labs around the world for testing.

The aim of the company is to make sure the tests are made available to the general public and especially to the needy instead of trying to commercialize it for financial gain. “I would be really disappointed to see a good test that is shown to work to be sold on Amazon only be used by a tiny proportion of the population,” said a representative while speaking to Reuters.

However, the focus is as much on making diagnostics of the disease accurate as it is on making it cheap. Therefore, this or any other test like it will probably take some time to actually roll out to the public.