More than two million at-home COVID-19 testing kits made by Australian biotech company Ellume have been recalled by US health authorities.
The Brisbane-based medical technology developer first announced a voluntary recall of some of its rapid antigen tests last month due to an increased chance of false positives.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said the Ellume kits may produce "false positives" due to a manufacturing defect.
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The recall has been identified by the FDA as a Class I recall, "the most serious type of recall," as "use of these tests may cause serious adverse health consequences or death," the regulator said in a statement.
The FDA said false positives could lead to a delayed diagnosis or treatment of the actual cause of a person's illness; receiving unnecessary COVID-19 treatment which may have side effects; and disregard for precautions against coronavirus, including vaccination.
The FDA says that there have been 35 reports of false positives, and no reported deaths.
The reliability of negative test results is not affected, the agency said.
Tests manufactured February 24 to August 11 and distributed April 13 to August 26 are included in the recall.
"The FDA is continuing to work with Ellume to assess the company's corrective actions, such as additional manufacturing checks and other corrective steps, to address the reason for the manufacturing issue, and to help ensure that it is resolved and will not recur," the agency said.
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Ellume is asking that affected products be removed from shelves in the US and not sold.
It advises those who have received a positive result with one of their tests to have a follow-up test to confirm their diagnosis.
In February, the Biden administration announced a US$231 million ($316 million) award for Ellume USA for production of its at-home tests for the US.
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