Sona Nanotech has signed a binding licensing agreement with in-vitro diagnostics developer Arlington Scientific to market the former’s quick saliva Covid-19 test. Under the deal, Sona will license the intellectual property for its rapid saliva Covid-19 test to Arlington. Arlington will seek an Emergency Use Authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration for use in the point-of-care as well as at-home setting. Arlington can produce and supply the test in the US on obtaining approval. The test has demonstrated a sensitivity and specificity of 93% and 100%, respectively.
Japan has plans to offer free Covid-19 tests to people showing no symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection. This move is anticipated to help protect the country against a potential surge of Covid-19 cases. To date, Covid-19 tests are offered free to individuals having virus-associated symptoms and those exposed to infection. Testing centres will be chosen by prefectural governments. Covid-19 has claimed over 18,000 lives in the country.
Several mayors from both sides of the US-Canada border have urged the Canadian federal government to scrap the Covid-19 test mandate for fully vaccinated travellers, CBC reported. Following 19 months of closure, the US has now reopened the land border for fully inoculated tourists. Border-town mayors noted that vaccinated people who enter Canada are required to furnish negative results from an expensive molecular test.
