Abbott’s Panbio COVID-19 Ag Rapid Test Receives WHO Clearance for Emergency Use Listing

On September 22, the WHO had approved the first COVID-19 rapid test produced by SD Biosensor (Korea). WHO records now show that the second rapid test to be cleared for emergency use listing is the Panbio COVID-19 Ag Rapid Test made by Abbott. Designed to scale up COVID-19 antigen testing and meant for patients suspected of current COVID-19 infection, the test requires no instrumentation and provides results in 15 minutes, making it a valuable tool for mass testing in decentralized settings.

The kit contains a self-contained tube with "break off" swab to minimize staff exposure and a fully enclosed extraction tube for disposal. The Panbio COVID-19 Ag Rapid Test has a sensitivity of 93.3% and specificity of 99.4%

Abbott’s Panbio COVID-19 Ag Rapid Test provides an accessible, portable and scalable option for COVID-19 testing and can be deployed at point of care in a variety of settings. The test may also be useful for supporting public health strategies, such as contact tracing and large-scale testing of people suspected of having an active infection.