FDA Clears First At-Home COVID-19 Antigen Test

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared marketing of the first over-the-counter (OTC) antigen test for COVID-19. ACON Laboratories’ Flowflex^® COVID-19 Antigen Home Test, originally authorized for emergency use in 2021, is now the second home COVID-19 test to successfully complete the 510(k) premarket review pathway. Flowflex^® is also the first at-home COVID-19 test kit indicated for use in children under 18.

“This marks the latest step forward in our efforts to help test developers provide Americans with continued options for safe and effective COVID-19 tests that can be performed entirely at home,” said Jeff Shuren, MD, JD, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. “The FDA continues to proactively work with test developers that desire to market their products beyond emergency use authorities. This is part of the FDA’s broader effort to advance the development and availability of at-home tests for a variety of medical conditions to expand patient access to testing.”

The Flowflex^® COVID-19 Antigen Home Test is an OTC visual-read test cleared for home use by individuals within six days of symptom onset. The test is cleared for individuals aged 14 years or older testing themselves, or adults testing individuals aged two years or older. In a study reviewed by the FDA, this test correctly identified 89.8 percent of positive and 99.3 percent of negative samples in individuals with upper respiratory infection and related symptoms. 

As with antigen tests authorized for emergency use, this test is intended to be used at least twice over three days with at least 48 hours between tests. This means that a symptomatic individual with an initial negative test result should be retested once between 48 and 72 hours after the first test using an antigen test for COVID-19 or followed up with a molecular COVID-19 test. 

- This press release was originally published on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration website