Tag Archives: Ellume

January 2021—The FDA issued an emergency use authorization for the first over-the-counter, at-home diagnostic test for COVID-19. The Ellume COVID-19 Home Test is a rapid, lateral flow antigen test that detects fragments of proteins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus using a mid-turbinate nasal swab sample from any person two years of age or older. The Ellume home test correctly identified 96 percent of positive samples and 100 percent of negative samples in people who had symptoms. In people without symptoms, the test correctly identified 91 percent of positive samples and 96 percent of negative samples. The home test uses an analyzer that connects with a software application on a smartphone to help users perform the test and interpret results. Results are delivered in as little as 20 minutes via a person’s smartphone. “By authorizing a test for over-the-counter use, the FDA allows it to be sold in places like drug stores, where a patient can buy it, swab their nose, run the test, and find out their results in as little as 20 minutes,” FDA commissioner Stephen M. Hahn, MD, said in a statement released by the agency. “As we continue to authorize additional tests for home use, we are helping expand Americans’ access to testing, reducing the burden on laboratories and test supplies, and giving Americans more testing options from the comfort and safety of their own homes.”

Dec. 16, 2020—The FDA issued an emergency use authorization for the first over-the-counter, at-home diagnostic test for COVID-19.