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Encouraged by the development of rapid at-home coronavirus tests, medtech companies are now betting on the potential to sell over-the-counter and direct-to-consumer diagnostics for diseases beyond COVID-19.
The pandemic has enabled consumers to get tested for the virus in the privacy of their homes, a convenience that companies like Abbott Laboratories and Quest Diagnostics are hoping will appeal to people when it comes to other diagnostics.
Home testing was already rising worldwide, as consumers take a more proactive role in their healthcare. COVID-19 is likely speeding that shift, analysts and companies say. Home testing and home collection will fundamentally reshape the diagnostics industry and healthcare in general by providing more testing options, said William Blair analysts, who contend that OTC tests will be one of the key long-term impacts of the pandemic on the industry.