The parent company of digital health unicorn Everlywell Inc. is expanding its portfolio of women’s health products through the acquisition of Charleston, S.C.-based startup Natalist Inc. The purchase marks Everly Health’s third acquisition of the year following agreements to buy national clinician network PWN Health and home lab testing company Home Access Health Corp. Financial terms of all deals were not disclosed. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Everly Health will add Natalist’s suite of reproductive products to its existing tests for menopause, fertility hormones and sexual health.

The FDA has granted an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the home sample collection kit made by Austin, Texas-based Everlywell Inc., which can be run on two lab-developed tests. However, the agency has also shut down a Gates Foundation-backed effort in Seattle to develop another home sample collection kit even though the organization behind the effort has been authorized by state health authorities. The FDA announced the news about the Everlywell EUA with the stipulation that the user of the kit has completed an online questionnaire that is subsequently reviewed by a health care professional.

The surge of interest in testing for the COVID-19 pathogen has led to some innovative tests and test strategies, including at-home tests. However, the FDA has indicated that it is wary of both at-home testing and specimen collection in other than supervised settings, a policy that is meeting with criticism from some quarters, but not all.

Everlywell Inc. stepped back from its announcement that consumers could access at-home testing for COVID-19 starting on March 23, 2020, following a U.S. FDA update that cautioned against fraudulent at-home tests.