Roche's Faster Coronavirus Test Receives FDA Emergency Use Authorization

Roche Holding AG RHHBY announced Friday that the FDA has issued an emergency use authorization for its cobas SARS-CoV-2 test, which aims to speed up the ability to test patients for the coronavirus. 

The test will provide results in three-and-a-half hours and is available in markets accepting the CE mark for patients with signs and symptoms of COVID-19 disease and living in affected areas, Roche said. 

The test is 10 times faster than Roche's existing one, according to Bloomberg. 

"Providing quality, high-volume testing capabilities will allow us to respond effectively to what the World Health Organization has characterized as a pandemic,” CEO Thomas Schinecker said in a statement. 

"It is important to quickly and reliably detect whether a patient is infected with SARS-CoV-2. Over the last weeks, our emergency response teams have been working hard to bring this test to the patients." 

Roche said it will have millions of tests per month available for use: "Roche is committed to delivering as many tests as possible and is going to the limits of our production capacity."

The stock was down 8.96% at $35.66 at the close Thursday. 

The stock has a 52-week high of $44.77 and a 52-week low of $31.81.

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A Roche cobas 6000 analysis module. Courtesy photo.