Ecosystem News
Prime Day Deal? Amazon Lands FDA Go-ahead to Sell COVID-19 Tests Directly to Consumers
Just in time for its annual online sale event, Amazon has gotten the green light from the FDA to begin hawking its own COVID-19 test directly to consumers—potentially setting up the most coveted Prime Day deal of all.
The FDA’s emergency use authorization allows the retail giant’s subsidiary STS Lab Holdco to sell its Amazon Real-Time RT-PCR test kits to anyone 18 years or older without requiring buyers to obtain a prescription or show proof of any COVID symptoms or recent contact with the virus.
The EUA also allows for pooled testing, in which up to five individual samples may be combined and tested at the same time, exponentially increasing the reach of Amazon’s lab resources.