Abbott ID NOW COVID-19 test gets FDA nod to detect coronavirus in 5 mins

Abbott ID NOW COVID-19 test : Medical device company Abbott has been granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for its five-minute novel coronavirus diagnostic test from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The company has launched the coronavirus detection test following the FDA approval.

According to Abbott, the ID NOW platform is the fastest available molecular point-of-care test for COVID-19 detection. The newly launched Abbott coronavirus diagnostic test is claimed to yield positive results within five minutes and negative results in 13 minutes.

The coronavirus diagnostic test will run on Abbott’s ID NOW platform and is expected to give quick results in a broad range of healthcare settings including physicians’ offices, urgent care clinics, and hospital emergency departments.

Designed to be a small, 6.6 pounds weighing portable box, the ID NOW platform uses molecular technology, which Abbott says is valued by the scientific community and clinicians for its high degree of accuracy.

Abbott ID NOW COVID-19 test for coronavirus detection within five minutes. Photo courtesy of Abbott.

Commenting on the launch of the Abbott ID NOW COVID-19 test, Robert B. Ford – president and chief operating officer at Abbott, said: “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.

“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.”

The arrival of the Abbott coronavirus detection test follows the recent launch of the Abbott m2000 RealTime SARS-CoV-2 EUA test, which runs on the m2000 RealTime System located in hospital and reference labs across the world. Abbott expects to produce nearly five million tests per month between the two coronavirus detection platforms.