QIAGEN laboratory equipment supplier announced on Friday that its QIAreach antigen testing for the COVID-19 virus has received an emergency use authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The rapid portable test can detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus in 2-15 minutes, extending the average processing capability to 30 swab samples per hour. The final results are provided digitally without requiring any human interpretation.

Clinical trials have proven the tests to have a sensitivity of at least 80% and a specificity of 98.0%. The testing technology uses digital eHub and eStick systems, allowing to detect both previous and active infections simultaneously.