Rapid Covid-19 tests for results within 30 minutes to be approved

Forbes has reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is set to approve more rapid molecular diagnostic tests that can be used in temporary screening locations such as doctor’s office, labs and nursing homes to detect the Covid-19 within a half hour.

Mesa Biotech said that it received an “emergency use authorization” from the FDA for its Accula SARS-CoV-2 Test, which the company said provides “diagnostic results in 30 minutes.”

It follows word from California-based Cepheid, which also said that it had received an “emergency use authorization” from the FDA for its Xpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2 test for qualitative detection of SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing which causes Covid-19.

The emergency use authorization for Mesa Biotech for the latest “rapid” test follows a parade of diagnostic test approvals for virus which has been declared as pandemic.

“Our Accula system is easy to use and fits in the palm of your hand,” Mesa Biotech co-founder and chief executive Dr. Hong Cai said in announcing the FDA approval. “This allows many units to be run side by side in the doctor’s office further increasing the speed of COVID-19 diagnosis.”

Prior to FDA approval of the rapid tests, many of the tests recently approved earlier this month are used in large hospitals and academic medical centers.