INDICAID’s Omicron BA.2 Variant Update
April 04, 2022
Phase Scientific continuously monitors emerging variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 and how their mutations may impact the performance of the INDICAID® COVID-19 Rapid Antigen test. A sub-variant of Omicron designated BA.2 (B.1.1529.2) was detected in the U.S. in January 2022, and the Centers For Disease Control (CDC) recently estimated that BA.2 represents more than 50% of all new COVID-19 infections in the U.S.
An independent evaluation by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) RADx Variant Task Force has determined that the INDICAID® COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Test detects the Omicron variant B.1.1.529 and Omicron sub-variant BA.2 (B1.1.529.2) in live clinical samples.
Furthermore, Phase Scientific has performed in-house analytical testing for the detection of Omicron nucleocapsid (N) protein. A limiting dilution study of recombinant N protein derived from Omicron sub-variants BA.1 (B.1.152.1) and BA.2 (B.1.1.529.2) demonstrated that the INDICAID® text achieves a similar level of detection for both Omicron N protein sub-variants compared to the N protein derived from the original strain of SARS-CoV-2.
Taken together, both our in-house analytical testing and the independent, evaluation by the RADx Variant Task Force suggest that the mutations identified in the Omicron variant are unlikely to impact INDICAID® test performance.
Felix Chao
VP US General Manager