Brooklyn, NY (April 14, 2020) - Lenco Diagnostic Laboratories (Lenco), one of NYC's largest independently owned full service clinical laboratories, today announced it is currently working with trusted manufacturing partners to launch IgG and IgM serology tests that will be used to detect antibodies through blood against SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 infection.  

“Our high-throughput, automated serological tests will detect two different types of antibodies known as IgG and IgM, and will assist physicians in determining whether their patients have been recently infected, or exposed to the COVID-19 infection in the past,” said Dr. Robert Boorstein, Medical Director at Lenco. “Furthermore, these tests will serve as a helpful assessment of a patient’s overall immune response to the virus, as well as identify individuals that may have been infected with COVID-19 but never showed symptoms. Findings from these tests may be very useful in allowing both affected, and unaffected individuals to resume normal activities.” ​

SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests provide qualitative detection of IgM and IgG antibodies in the blood that are produced by the body in response to SARS-CoV-2 virus.  IgM antibodies are detectable in the blood as the initial immune response to SARS-CoV-2 within 3-5 days after symptom onset, thereby suggesting a recent or current COVID-19 infection.  IgG antibodies appear in the blood within 3-4 weeks after initial infection, and may persist after the patient has become asymptomatic and no longer is positive for COVID-19 nucleic acid testing by RT-PCR. The presence of SARS-CoV-2-specific IgM and/or IgG antibodies in the blood of a patient is a strong indication that the patient has been infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Important Links and Updates about COVID-19