PerkinElmer announced that its PerkinElmer New Coronavirus Nucleic Acid Detection Kit received an expanded emergency use authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to test people without symptoms or other reasons to suspect COVID-19 infection, according to a press release from the company.
Previously, the FDA had revised the EUA to allow sample pooling with the test to increase the number of individuals who can be tested without increasing resources. Additional testing mechanisms, including the use of saliva as a sample type, are also on the horizon, Perkin Elmer said. The FDA granted an EUA to the test originally in March 2020.