At-Home Rapid HIV Test OraQuick Now Available

OraQuick, an at-home oral HIV Test, is now on shelves in pharmacies and health care facilities across the country, just a few months after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved it being sold.  

The test, which analyzes a cheek swab, became available to consumers last week at a retail price of $39.99.

The new product is a version of the professionally administered OraQuick Advance Test, an oral swab that provides results in 20 minutes, which the FDA approved in 2004. Since then its maker, OraSure Technologies, has sold nearly 25 million Advance Tests to hospitals, community-based organizations, medical clinics, and physician offices.

The home test could still prevent 4,000 new transmissions of the virus each year, based on sales projections. And there is demand for an easily available rapid test. A recent study found that 84% of gay and bisexual men say they would administer a self-test if a proper kit were available. The other available at-home kits, such as Home Access Health Corp.’s Express HIV Test System, require users to send blood samples to a lab, while OraQuick’s results are available almost immediately.