NEW YORK: Abbott Laboratories says it has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration under its Emergency Use Authorisation for the fastest COVID-19 test to date.
A new coronavirus test delivers positive results within five minutes and negative results within 13 minutes, the North Chicago medical device maker announced.
According to a statement, the test runs on an existing, portable Abbott platform. It can be used in various health care settings, including urgent care clinics and emergency departments,
The company says it will eventually be able to make 50,000 tests available per day.
Abbott Chief Operating Officer Robert Ford said that 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 says it plans to make tests available to clinicians in urgent care settings around the country next week.
Last week, the company announced it was ramping up production of another newly approved COVID-19 test, which leverages an existing molecular diagnostic system that can run up to 470 tests in 24 hours.
Abbott expects to be producing about 5 million total tests per month in April.
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