Abbott has a
new molecular test for the corona virus, the Abbott RealTime SARS-CoV-2 EUA Test. The Abbot ID NOW platform is used for a
variety of analyses and 18,000 systems are already present in many hospitals and reference labs. Abbott has just been given emergency use
authorization (EUA) from the FDA for this test. It is portable and uses RT-PCR
to detect the virus RNA genome. It is a
real game changer! It is small and light and does a Molecular Point-of-Care Test
in the hospital. I am not sure what
technique is used to detect the PCR product, but there are a number of rapid
sensitive assays available. Each test takes five minutes and it can run 470
tests in 24 hr. Positive results can be
obtained in 5 min and negative
results in 13 min. Swabs from the
patient’s nose or throat can be used directly or stored in viral transport medium. Initially, the system will
provide 50,000 tests per day. Abbott is distributing 150,000 tests next week and
is ramping production up to 1 million tests per week.
Two other companies,
Cepheid and Mesa Biotech, also just received authorization for a palm-sized
test that gives results in 30 min.
Testing in the US initially used kits from the CDC but they were flawed, and the testing planning
at the Federal level also left a lot to be desired.
Diagnostic testing
is very import in a pandemic since it provides the necessary data to do planning
of a containment strategy!
