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COVID-19: Pharma giant readies five-minute test, may bring it to India, too


mangaloretoday.com/ yahoo

United States, March 30, 2020: Global pharma giant Abbott, which on Friday announced it has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for a portable device that can tell if someone is COVID-19 positive in five minutes, said it plans to “bring more tests forward with the intent to get them to more people in more places around the world”.


covid-test


To a question on whether Abbott planned to bring the test to India, a company spokesperson told The Indian Express, “We are developing COVID-19 tests across our Abbott testing platforms (including laboratory and lateral flow tests) and plan to bring more tests forward with the intent to get them to more people in more places around the world. We are working to produce as many tests as possible, running our production 24/7 and will expand manufacturing capacity when we can.”

Currently, the ID NOW COVID-19 test is available only in the United States as this is where most of the company’s ID NOW instruments are in use, the Abbott spokesperson said. This platform, introduced in 2014, is currently being used for testing for Influenza A and B in American labs.

It is small, lightweight (6.6 lbs) and portable (the size of a small toaster) — and uses a unique isothermal nucleic acid amplification technology, which provides molecular results in minutes.

Currently, the ID NOW COVID-19 test is available only in the United States as this is where most of the company’s ID NOW instruments are in use, the Abbott spokesperson said. This platform, introduced in 2014, is currently being used for testing for Influenza A and B in American labs.

It is small, lightweight (6.6 lbs) and portable (the size of a small toaster) — and uses a unique isothermal nucleic acid amplification technology, which provides molecular results in minutes.