Spain's top research institution reached a licensing deal on Tuesday that paves the way for its Covid-19 antibody test to be produced more cheaply in developing countries, according to AFP.

The World Health Organization described the accord as the first transparent, global, non-exclusive license for a Covid-19 health tool that will help correct “devastating global inequity”.

The deal brings together the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the global Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) and the WHO's Covid-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) knowledge-sharing platform.

“The aim of the licence is to facilitate the rapid manufacture and commercialisation of CSIC's Covid-19 serological test worldwide,” the WHO said.

The test effectively detects anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies developed in response to either a Covid-19 infection or a vaccine.