FDA Approves COVID-19 Antigen Test Which Can Produce Results In Minutes

The Food and Drug Administration approved the first antigen test for identifying COVID-19. The new test was developed by San Diego based Quidel Corp. and is capable of returning results in a matter of minutes.

The antigen test looks for specific proteins found on the outer surface of the coronavirus that triggers an immune response in the body. The new tests could significantly improve testing capacity as many states begin to reopen.

"There will never be the ability on a nucleic acid test to do 300 million tests a day or to test everybody before they go to work or to school," Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said. "But, there might be with the antigen test."

While the antigen tests provide results faster than the current PCR tests on the market, they are not as accurate.

"Antigen tests are very specific for the virus, but are not as sensitive as molecular PCR tests," the FDA said. "This means that positive results from antigen tests are highly accurate, but there is a higher chance of false negatives, so negative results do not rule out infection."

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