Abbott Laboratories received FDA emergency use authorization (EUA) for its COVID-19 molecular test, which will run on the company's new Alinity m system, as well as its COVID-19 antibody blood test, which will run on the Alinity i system. The two actions bring to five the number of COVID-19 tests developed by the Abbott Park, Ill.-based company to receive EUAs.

The U.S. FDA has issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for an antigen test for the SARS-CoV-2 virus from Quidel Corp., of San Diego, that is more readily deployed than other diagnostic tests for the pathogen. Quidel’s offering can be used at the point of care (POC) and as a lab test.

The FDA granted Setpoint Medical Corp. an investigational device exemption (IDE) approval to study its bioelectronic platform in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. The Valencia, Calif.-based company expects to begin enrollment in a multicenter, double-blind, randomized, sham-controlled pivotal trial in patients with RA in the third quarter of 2020, Setpoint President and CEO Murthy Simhambhatla told BioWorld.

The U.S. FDA has expanded the emergency use authorization (EUA) for Rutgers University’s saliva-based COVID-19 test to include at-home use of Spectrum Solutions LLC’s SDNA-1000 whole saliva collection device, a development that underscores the need for wider testing as localities across the country emerge from lockdown and restart their economies. This is the first at-home option for saliva collection; the action comes just two weeks after the FDA authorized Laboratory Corp. of America’s polymerase chain reaction test for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, to include the company’s Pixel self-collection kit for nasal samples.

The U.S. FDA’s enforcement regarding products related to the COVID-19 pandemic has picked up steam recently, but the U.S. Federal trade commission (FTC) is also involved in this enforcement arena. Leonard Gordon, a partner at Venable LLP’s New York office, told BioWorld that while the FTC and FDA missions seem to overlap, the FTC primarily targets unsupportable advertising claims rather than product labeling, a particularly relevant area in the COVID-19 pandemic.

PERTH, Australia – As New Zealand and Australia prepare to open their economies, regulators in these two neighboring countries are taking very different approaches to regulating COVID-19 devices with New Zealand restricting point-of-care tests, while Australia imposes tougher postmarket activities.