On Jun. 10, 2020, OraSure Technologies announced it had been awarded a $629,217 contract from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to develop an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) for the detection of human anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in oral fluid specimens. Currently, there were no oral fluid-based COVID antibody tests available with automated assays.

This oral fluid ELISA was expected to increase laboratory COVID-19 antibody testing capacity and could play a vital role in detecting coronavirus antibodies which can be detected within one to three weeks after the onset of symptoms. Such tests could help identify people who had past COVID-19 infections, even without symptoms, potentially allowing them to safely return to work or other activities if data show antibody development with past infection translates to future immunity. In addition, this test could help meet an urgent need to screen the population, especially health care workers, for past asymptomatic infection and potential immunity against COVID-19.