GenScript Biotech Corporation and Duke-NUS Medical School announced that the U.S. Patent and Trade Office has issued a notice of allowance for the patent application for a novel Surrogate Virus Neutralization Technology (sVNT). Neutralizing antibodies have been scientifically shown to play a major role in preventing infection by blocking a virus from infecting cells. Developed by Professor Linfa Wang and his team from Duke-NUS, the sVNT neutralization antibody detection technology is exclusively licensed to GenScript for commercialization as the cPass™ SARS-CoV-2 Neutralization Antibody Test. Another key enabler in taking the cPass test to market is the Diagnostics Development Hub, a national platform hosted by Singapore'sAgency for Science, Technology and Research, which validated the kit with clinical samples, developed the manufacturing protocols and quality control processes, and secured its provisional authorization by the Health Sciences Authority in Singapore. The kit has been granted emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and is the first and only authorized SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody test product in the US. The test does not require a biosafety level 3 facility and can test 96 samples within an hour, significantly reducing the time required for virus detection during experiments. The fact that the kit can be used to assess immunity to multiple coronaviruses including SARS-CoV-2 and its variants makes it one of the most suitable testing tools for large-scale vaccine trials. Duke-NUS has also filed patent applications for the sVNT technology in China, Europe and Brazil. The cPass detection kit is CE marked in Europe, allowing it to be sold freely in any part of the European Economic Area. It has received HSA provisional approval in Singapore, ANVISA in Brazil, ANMAT in Argentina, and recently has been approved by the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP) in the United Arab Emirates as a medical device.