Visby Medical, a startup in Silicon Valley, last week became the first company to receive an Emergency Use Authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for a portable PCR coronavirus test kit, Reuters reports.
PCR testing, considered one of the most accurate diagnostic tools for infectious diseases, usually requires a large, expensive machine to run results, but Visby's product can reportedly fit in a person's palm. The medical equipment company's founder and CEO Adam de la Zerda said he hasn't settled on a price for the kit — which Visby has been developing for the last seven years, initially for the purpose of diagnosing sexually transmitted diseases — but the goal is to make it affordable.
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