The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday said it has finalized a global license deal to ramp up production of a serological technology that detects COVID-19 antibodies, something the agency says will “turn the tide” on the pandemic. The license will be provided royalty-free to poor and middle-income countries, the WHO announced in a news release, adding that it will remain valid until the date the last patent expires. The non-exclusive licensing agreement reached with the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), a public research institute offering the technology as a global public good, is the first test license signed by the WHO’s Medicines Patent Pool (MPP). “The aim of the license is to facilitate the rapid manufacture and commercialization of CSIC’s COVID-19 serological test worldwide,” the WHO said. The technology checks for the presence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies developed either in response to a COVID-19 infection or to a vaccine. Director-General …