Posted April 02, 2020

GREENSBORO – Carolina Liquid Chemistries – a Greensboro diagnostics and drug screening company – has introduced two new immunoassays to test for COVID-19 and for norfentanyl, the major metabolite of the synthetic opioid pain reliever fentanyl.

The company says its ALLTest Rapid Screen Antibody Test Cassette will check for the presence of the IgG and IgM antibodies to COVID-19 in whole blood, serum or plasma samples. The chromatographic immunoassay falls under new U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines for coronavirus testing during a public health crisis.

Since the Rapid Test Cassette only targets IgG and IgM, the company said it should not be the sole criterion for diagnosing coronavirus. Negative results don’t rule out infection. So patients should consider follow-up testing with another diagnostic, particularly if they’ve been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19.

“These are unprecedented times,” said Phillip Shugart, CEO of Carolina Liquid Chemistries (CLC). “The rapid screen is a fast and easy screen for antibodies that complements other tests and symptoms to give a fuller picture.”

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