The agency gave emergency allowance for a home test for COVID-19 that allows a customer to take a nasal unit at home and send it to a workroom for the analysis.
The Food and Drug Administration on Saturday awarded pressure clearance for a coronavirus research kit that will empower somebody to take a nasal sample at home and send it to a lab for diagnostic testing, the second such support it has made.
Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, manager of the agency’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, stated that the new test home test for COVID-19 “not only gives enhanced patient access to tests but also defends others from likely exposure.” Health care workers can risk disease when they determine diagnostic analyses.
The case, created by EverlyWell, will receive a swab for people to use to take a unit from inside the nostrils, and a tube packed with a saline solution to put it in for shipping to one of two separate lab groups: Fulgent Therapeutics or Assurance Scientific Laboratories. The organization plans to partner with new labs.
Health Care Providers
Some public health investigators have suggested that at-home nasal swab tests can be less reliable than the specimen number offered by health care providers, which includes entering a long nasal swab through the nose into the back of the throat.
Christina Song, an EverlyWell spokeswoman, said consumers would first take an online screening survey to decide whether they meet federal guidelines for the analysis. The research will be evaluated quickly by health care providers affiliated with PWNHealth, the telemedicine companion. If a customer qualifies for the search, one will be shipped out quickly.
“From the moment that you hit the order button, to the moment that you get the test results on your phone or device, that means is intended to take three to five days,” Ms. Song stated.
The experiment kits will be available later this month, according to Ms. Song, and will cost $135.
Health Care Companies
In publishing its support for the EverlyWell testing kit, the FDA. said the group had “leveraged” data from investigations sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and UnitedHealth Group to show that the parts would stay calm during transportation.
EverlyWell offers a variety of goods that people can buy online or in shops, including at-home test kits for diabetes, sexually transferred infections, and high cholesterol.
Some of the company’s results, such as those meaning to test for food allergies, have come under criticism. EverlyWell was also one of many businesses that drew attention from members of Congress in March for joining the market for coronavirus test kits in March without F.D.A. permission.
The FDA Suggestion
EverlyWell, which had worked its at-home kit as a consumer product, said in a comment at the time that it had not sold any of the units to customers, but was giving the test stuff “at the cost to clinics and health care companies who can commit to giving the test for free to their workers and sufferers.”
The FDA’s decision on Saturday supports other recent pressure use support for coronavirus testing kits that also permit people to take samples at home.
One, sold by LabCorp, uses a nasal swab to collect an original, which is then sent to the lab. The other, formed by a Rutgers University laboratory, called RUCDR Infinite Biologics, in partnership with Spectrum Solutions and Accurate Diagnostic Labs, is for getting a saliva sample.
