Yale Saliva Coronavirus Test Expanding To 3 More States

NEW HAVEN, CT — Three independent labs in the U.S. will be able to process the Yale research developed SalivaDirect coronavirus test. The saliva-based test will now be available to people in Florida, Minnesota and New York by late September. Yale Pathology Labs was the first lab to process the tests.

The test was developed by Yale School of Public Health researchers led by Nathan Grubaugh, an assistant professor and Anne Wyllie, an associate research scientist. The test received emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration in August.

Saliva-based tests solve some of the biggest downsides to traditional nasal swab tests. They are less expensive, less prone to manufacturing bottlenecks and are less invasive.

A pilot program that tested asymptomatic NBA players led to increased interest in the test.

The test involves spitting into a sterile container and eliminates an extra step that is needed for nasal swab tests. Nasal swab tests need to use a kit to separate nucleic acid from the sample; the kit has become one of the biggest bottlenecks for coronavirus testing.

“We are so grateful to extend SalivaDirect™ to these laboratory partners, and because our test does not rely on any proprietary equipment it can be assembled and used in most high-complexity labs across the country. As such, our hope is that many other labs will follow suit,” Grubaugh said in a statement. “While we are not looking to commercialize the method, we absolutely want it to be widely available; the only way we will see this pandemic in the rearview mirror is to increase testing in every single neighborhood across the country, regardless of economics.”