FDA Grants Emergency Use of Rutgers’ COVID-19 Saliva Test

The FDA granted its first Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for a saliva-based COVID-19 diagnostic, clearing Rutgers’ biorepository RUCDR Infinite Biologics’ test for emergency use.

Andrew Brooks, chief operating officer and director of the biorepository, said the test “can significantly increase the number of people tested each and every day as self-collection of saliva is quicker and more scalable than swab collections.”

The saliva-based diagnostic also enables healthcare professionals to avoid the risk of infection from collecting nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal samples.