A study conducted by New York University (NYU) indicated that Abbott ID NOW COVID-19 tests are less effective than the Cepheid Xpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2 devices. The authors of this study found that the Abbot ID NOW COVID-19 device missed between 33.3 and 48.4% of positive samples detected by the Cepheid Xpert. According to news reports, Abbott Laboratories has responded to this report by stating that the NYU investigators did not use their device as intended.

Alison Casey, Medical Devices Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view:

“According to GlobalData COVID-19 SKU data, the majority of COVID-19 tests in the US are being performed by high-throughput solutions such as those provided by Abbott Molecular, Quidel Corp and Integrated DNA Technologies Inc, which have a lower average selling price per test.

“However, higher priced products such as the Abbott ID NOW COVID-19 and Cepheid Xpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2 are appealing due to their shorter turnaround time. The Cepheid Xpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2 test had so far proved to be more popular on the US market and this is likely to continue to be the case, bearing in mind recent questions raised about the sensitivity of the Abbott ID NOW COVID-19 device.”