The FDA has granted its first emergency authorization for antigen testing. Cheaper and easier to administer than genetic diagnostic testing for the virus, the agency says it could potentially scale to daily testing of millions.
The Food and Drug Administration announced Saturday that it has granted its first emergency authorization to a new type of test that can detect the coronavirus called an antigen test.
The test looks for protein fragments associated with the virus. The sample is collected with a nasal swab. It can produce a result in minutes, the FDA said in a statement. The agency notes that compared to already approved genetic testing, the antigen test is cheaper and easier to use and could “potentially scale to test millions of Americans per day” once multiple manufacturers enter the market.