Abbott (NYSE:ABT) announced that it received FDA emergency use authorization (EUA) for what it touts as the fastest available molecular point-of-care test for detecting COVID-19.
The test, which Abbott says can deliver positive results in as little as five minutes and negative results in 13 minutes, is slated to run on the company’s ID Now platform for settings including physicians’ offices, urgent care clinics and hospital emergency departments, according to a news release.
ID Now is a lightweight, portable platform designed to use molecular technology renowned for its high degree of accuracy. Abbott touts it as the most widely available molecular point-of-care testing platform in the U.S. today.
The Abbott Park, Ill.-based company said its ID Now coronavirus tests are set to be made available next week in urgent care settings, where the majority of the platforms are in use today. Abbott is also working with the FDA to deploy tests in areas where they can have the greatest impact.
“The COVID-19 pandemic will be fought on multiple fronts, and a portable molecular test that offers results in minutes adds to the broad range of diagnostic solutions needed to combat this virus,” Abbott president & COO Robert Ford said in the news release. “With rapid testing on ID NOW, healthcare providers can perform molecular point-of-care testing outside the traditional four walls of a hospital in outbreak hotspots.”
ID Now’s launch follows last week’s EUA nod for Abbott’s m2000 RealTime SARS-CoV-2 testing system. The company said at the time that it would immediately ship 150,000 of its RealTime tests to existing customers and deploy additional systems as needed.
