New Delhi: Abbott’s efforts to pre-empt COVID 19 by beating it in speed have paid off. As the virus threaten to engulf the world with demoniac pace, the alacrity of American healthcare company has raised hope of triumph on the unprecedented scourge. The rapid test kit it has devised is likely to be boon for a vast country like India
Abbott Laboratories is launching a rapid test kit that is bound to prove paradigm shift in fight against COVID 19. The test could take as little as five minutes and could be run on a portable machine the size of a toaster. The announcement has boosted the company’s share by good 7.2%.
In the midst of panic, fast and accurate diagnosis of large population is the need of the hour. With more widespread testing, the ravaging and ruthless virus could be contained with a lightning speed.
Abbott’s new diagnostic test for Covid-19 could cut the wait for results down to as little as five minutes for a positive result and 13 minutes for a negative one. Robert B Ford, president of Abbott, said, ‘the device would help clinicians test “outside of the traditional walls of a hospital in outbreak hotspots”.
The test runs on the company’s portable platform, which is the most widely available point-of-care molecular testing device in the US. Abbott said the test would start to be distributed to healthcare providers, such as doctor’s offices, urgent care clinics and emergency departments, this week. The announcement has given a boost of 7.2 percent to shares in Abbott .
In the meantime, Johnson & Johnson, another US healthcare company, has made announcement saying a potential vaccine for COVID could be available early next year. J&J said on Monday it had identified a vaccine candidate and was teaming up with the US government to invest $1bn in its development, expecting to start testing in humans by September.
