COVID-19: Self-test reagent developed in Australia approved by USA

In the United States, where the COVID-19 outbreak is at risk, authorities this week gave emergency approval for a self-testing reagent developed by Ellume, an Australian company.

The COVID-19 outbreak has killed more than 300,000 people in the United States, but American laboratories are still unable to pathologically track patients. In this context, America’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave emergency approval for a self-testing reagent developed by Ellume, an Australian company, to be marketed without a doctor’s prescription.

As OUR RFI correspondent Gregory PLESSE reports from Sydney on Thursday (17 December 2020), it will take less than 20 minutes to get the results of a self-testing test to determine if the virus has infected you. This is reagent manufacturing ˎ Australia Ellume a commitment of the company. The Australian-made self-test reagent costs about $30 each in American pharmacies. This is also the first reagents available on the U.S. market without a prescription to detect COVID-19 virus.

There is a huge demand for COVID-19 reagents in the US market

American authorities, who want people waiting for the vaccine to be tested as soon as possible, have concluded after testing that the self-testing reagent is about 96% effective. Ellume, an Australian company, says it will have 100,000 of these self-testing agents in the U.S. market every day by the end of December. By the end of March 2021, 20 million of these self-testing agents will be delivered to the United States. In addition, the company is committed to doubling production of the reagent in the future to meet demand in the United States market.

The American community is eager for the COVID-19 reagent

Authorities in Washington are hoping that the self-test will ease the pressure that U.S. laboratories are currently experiencing from the large number of COVID-19 infections. American higher education institutions, which want to get foreign students back to school as soon as possible, are also interested. So do the sports world, which wants to get spectators back on the field.