Cue Health, a healthcare technology company that puts diagnostic information at the center of care, has announced that on September 30, 2022, it submitted an application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for its Cue Flu + COVID-19 Molecular Test for at-home and point-of-care (POC) use.

The new Cue Flu + COVID-19 Molecular Test can simultaneously detect and differentiate between influenza and COVID-19 in approximately 25 minutes, with results delivered digitally to the Cue Health App on the user’s mobile device. If authorized, Cue’s Flu + COVID-19 test will be integrated into Cue Care, the company’s same-day, test-to-treatment solution within the Cue Health App, which enables individuals to consult with a healthcare professional and get treatment delivered to their home within hours if medically indicated.

“An accurate flu and COVID-19 test that can be done anywhere is a powerful tool. Combining this with the capability to treat on the same day enables a paradigm shift in respiratory diseases,” says Ayub Khattak, chairman and CEO of Cue Health. “We hope to enable this paradigm shift across the spectrum of infectious diseases and more with the many additional products in our pipeline.”

Timely differential diagnosis of influenza versus COVID-19 is important because the two viruses present with many of the same symptoms but can be treated with distinct FDA-authorized antiviral medications, which must be administered soon after infection to be the most effective. Early treatment for both COVID-19 and flu can reduce an individual’s risk of getting seriously ill1. Experts are warning that this year’s respiratory infection season could be especially severe, placing a significant burden on the healthcare system due to the combined threat of a resurgent flu2 and new COVID-19 variants3. The FDA’s emergency use authorization pathway could allow for Cue’s test to be deployed within this respiratory infection season. 

The Cue Flu + COVID-19 Molecular Test Cartridge uses a lower nasal swab sample and runs on the Cue Reader, which communicates test results digitally to the Cue Health App on a mobile device. Currently, Cue’s standalone molecular tests for both flu and COVID-19 are under de novo review with the FDA for full clearance.

Cue’s COVID-19 test is in use today by millions of Americans, including by some of the nation’s leading healthcare institutions, such as Johns Hopkins Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Memorial Hermann, and UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, according to the company. Cue is also used by world-class organizations such as Major League Baseball, Google, the National Basketball Association, and Bridgewater, among others.

References

1https://www.cdc.gov/flu/symptoms/flu-vs-covid19.htm

2https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/09/23/1124311571/flu-season-2022-covid-twindemic

3https://www.science.org/content/article/big-covid-19-waves-may-be-coming-new-omicron-strains-suggest