NBA Study Led by IQVIA Finds Antibody Levels Work at Correlate of Protection, Informing Infection Risk & Booster Scheduling

Christina DeFilippo Mack, Ph.D., Chief Science Officer and epidemiologist, and colleagues from IQVIA Real-World Solutions along with collaborators from Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Yale University investigated whether SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels can serve effectively as a correlate for immunity, thus informing COVID-19 vaccine booster timing. The IQVIA team led a study evaluating the relationship between antibody levels and protection in vaccinated individuals in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Individuals from the NBA had their antibody levels measured at a single time point from September 12, 2021, to December 31, 2021. DeFilippo and colleagues collected, tabulated and analyzed data, running Cox proportional hazards models to estimate the risk of infection within 90 days of serologic testing by antibody level (<250, 250–800, and >800 AU/mL¹), adjusting for age, time since last vaccine dose, and history of SARS-CoV-2 infection.