# Novel antibody polymer reagents for SARS-CoV-2 detection

> **NIH NIH R43** · NOVAB, INC. · 2021 · $256,506

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
There is an urgent need to rapidly detect SARS-CoV-2 (CoV-2) virus in clinical and nonclinical settings, including
point of care sites, workplace, and home, at sensitivity and specificity comparable or superior to RT-PCR
detection of CoV-2 RNA. Much of the person-to-person CoV-2 transmission occurs before infected individuals
develop symptoms. This significant pre-symptomatic/asymptomatic reservoir of CoV-2 transmission mandates
efficient identification of infected individuals and their contacts at population-wide screening scale to prevent
outbreaks of Covid-19 disease while allowing societies to open and economies to recover. This level of
surveillance will also be needed to fully evaluate the effectiveness of countermeasures, including vaccines and
therapies. We will develop a new class of diagnostic product reagents, antibody polymers, to create products
that can be produced and used at population screening scale for rapid CoV-2 antigen detection at significantly
improved sensitivity that approaches the sensitivity of :gold-standard” RT-PCR detection of CoV-2 genomic RNA.
Our antibody polymers will be produced by engineering a novel class of small, stable, single polypeptide anti-
CoV-2 antibodies termed variable lymphocyte receptors (VLRs) as polymers to achieve essentially irreversible
binding to CoV-2 virus. VLR polymers are compatible with all diagnostic immunoassay forms, including lateral
flow assay (LFA) “dipsticks”, which is likely to be preferred in non-laboratory settings, and with established
signaling modalities, e.g., colloidal gold and horseradish peroxidase (HRP). VLRs, the antigen receptors of
jawless vertebrates (lamprey and hagfish), are composed of highly diverse leucine-rich repeat domains and are
the only known antigen-specific immune receptors that are not immunoglobulins (Igs). The binding site of VLRs
is contained within a small single polypeptide and comprised by amino acid residues in the rigid beta-sheets that
form the concave surface of the VLR structure. The over 500 million year evolutionary separation of jawed and
jawless vertebrates and distinctive antigen-binding site structure of VLR antibodies have proved a source of
novel specificities distinct from conventional Ig antibodies. The outer envelope of the CoV-2 virus is composed
of a multivalent array of spike (S) protein that is an ideal target(s) for multivalent, essentially irreversible binding,
by appropriately multivalent binding agents. We will genetically link in tandem genes encoding VLRs with binding
specificity for CoV-2 S protein to create such multivalent VLR polymer binding agents that couple binding of CoV-
2 antigens to an amplifiable, visually observable result, e.g., color change. The high ratio of CoV-2 S protein 50
– 100 S protein trimers per virus particle, to the single copy CoV-2 RNA genome, and the amplification available
via catalysis, e.g., HRP, provides significantly improved CoV-2 antigen detection sensitivity that ap...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10323707
- **Project number:** 1R43AI165016-01
- **Recipient organization:** NOVAB, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Lovick Edward Cannon
- **Activity code:** R43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $256,506
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-08-01 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10323707

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10323707, Novel antibody polymer reagents for SARS-CoV-2 detection (1R43AI165016-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10323707. Licensed CC0.

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