FDA Clears Yale’s Saliva-Based COVID-19 Test for Emergency Use

The Yale School of Public Health has received an Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA for a saliva-based COVID-19 laboratory test.

The test is cheaper and less invasive than nasopharyngeal swabbing but yields similar outcomes, the university said. It said it expects labs to charge about $10 per sample.

The saliva-based test has been validated with reagents and instruments from multiple vendors, Yale said, enabling testing to continue if some vendors encounter supply-chain issues.