The test would produce results within minutes and could be
administered on a low-cost, paper-based device, similar to a home
pregnancy test, that could be delivered at the point of care.
"We are seeking to improve the speed, accessibility and
affordability of testing for the virus, a major step in helping to
prevent its spread,” said John Banovetz, the chief technology
officer at 3M.
The research effort is being aided by a grant from the National
Institutes of Health, which is running a project called Rapid
Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) that funds the development of new
testing technologies in academia and business.
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The program aims to have the new tests available for use by late summer or early
fall.
Antigen tests scan for proteins that can be found on or inside a virus. They can
detect the virus very quickly and can potentially be produced at a lower cost
than other tests.
3M says it could scale manufacturing to millions of tests per day once it is
developed.
(Reporting by Carl O'Donnell; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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