#Becton Dickinson’s 15-minute COVID test cleared for use in Europe
“#Becton Dickinson’s 15-minute COVID test cleared for use in Europe”
The company expects to start selling its rapid COVID-19 test in the European Union countries by the end of October now that it’s met the requirements to launch the kits there.
The test is performed on Becton Dickinson’s portable Veritor Plus system, a machine slightly larger than a cellphone that is already used in Europe to test for diseases such as the flu and strep throat. The system’s quick turnaround means patients don’t have to wait for their test to be sent off to a lab.
“The addition of a truly portable, point-of-care test that can deliver results while the patient waits will be welcomed by health care providers and patients alike to help protect against additional waves of COVID-19,” Roland Goette, Becton Dickinson’s president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said in a statement.
Becton Dickinson’s 15-minute kits are antigen tests, which scan for proteins on the surface of the virus. They’re generally cheaper and faster but somewhat less reliable than the standard polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, tests, which analyze the entire viral genome.
The Becton Dickinson tests have been available in the US since July under an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration. The company said the test has now been labeled with the European Union’s “CE” mark, which indicates the company has run tests to prove that it meets requirements there.
The European clearance came as countries such as France and Spain grappled with a surge in coronavirus infections after keeping the virus under control over the summer.
Becton Dickinson said it expects to produce 8 million antigen tests a month by October and 12 million a month by March of next year. The company said earlier this month that it was investigating reports of false-positive results in American nursing homes from coronavirus tests run on the Veritor Plus machine.
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