Coronavirus Testing: FDA Approves Two-Minute COVID-19 Antibody Testing Kit

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a COVID-19 testing kit of Bodysphere Inc., which can detect coronavirus antibodies within a couple of minutes. The FDA has been rushing to sanction tests on an emergency basis and last week it approved Abbott Laboratories’ test that can deliver results within minutes.

Bodysphere was working with the federal and state governments to deliver the test which is administered like a glucose test, Reuters reported. The testing kit is strictly intended for use by medical professionals only.

Why use an antibody test? An antibody test can be used to find out whether a person who has already contracted COVID-19 but then has recovered from the deadly virus without any testing at that time. The FDA’s emergency use authorization was given to this new antibody test (COVID-19 IgG/IgM Rapid Test) which is a lateral flow immunoassay that can determine coronavirus antibodies in the patients’ blood, plasma, as well as serum.

According to Bodysphere, the new test can take between 2-10 minutes to provide results. Also, the testing kit doesn’t need any kind of laboratory equipment or extensive staff training to perform the test. The new antibodies test is as simple as a regular blood glucose test. However, consumers will not be able to get direct access to these testing kits.

As of now, the Bodysphere testing kit has been put to use successfully in multiple states and the company is working with several federal and state officials to expand the availability of the testing kits for use in hospitals as well as other care facilities. With a few weeks’ time, millions of these testing kits can be deployed throughout the U.S.

“When we realized we had the ability to step up and fight this pandemic at a critical point, we focused all our resources on bringing the rapid test kits, masks, and other critical supplies to the front lines as soon as possible. Thankfully, when our perpetual quest for improving health put us in a position to deliver this lifesaving product – it became quite clear what we had to do,” Slash Gear quoted Bodysphere CEO, Charlton E. Lui.