Testing Our Limits, Episode 1: A Threat Emerges

It's late in 2019. As word of a new respiratory illness is coming in, Abbott immediately mobilizes to find ways to compress the time it takes to develop a test for production. What traditionally takes years must happen in weeks.

"Everybody came back from holiday in January. The situation was getting worse and not better. So we started, internally, R&D leaders, exchanging emails with each other about what have we learned. Quickly, our weekly meetings, became daily," said Katharine Qiu, Ph.D., vice president for infectious disease research and development, Abbott Rapid Diagnostics.

Testing Our Limits, Episode 2: The Path Forward

It's soon apparent that meeting daily won't cut it. The work needs to happen 'round the clock, 24/7. And even with that dedication from people with decades of experience, they're going to need some good luck to break their typical way too, particularly when it came to acquiring the samples needed to design a test that could identify COVID-19.

"Getting samples that we could use to develop the molecular test was really challenging, mostly because there just weren't very many cases in the United States and we weren't able to bring in samples from other parts of the world," said Mary Rodgers, principal scientist for infectious disease research, Abbott Diagnostics.

Added Gavin Cloherty, head of infectious disease research, Abbott Diagnostics: "Once the first sequence became publicly available, we had a team in place, and as soon as we had that, we literally built a test from a single sequence."

Testing Our Limits, Episode 3: Tackling the Problem Head On

Developing a test in record time means nothing if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration won’t issue an emergency use authorization to open the door for you to get those tests to the people and places who need them most. And while everyone was working fast, standards aren’t negotiable. The test has to work as expected. Just like all the other tests that are going to follow in its footsteps.

“Literally in 30 days we came up with an ID NOW COVID-19 test that can provide a test result in 15 minutes. We submitted it to the FDA, we were granted emergency use authorization and it was an incredible task,” said Rich Roth, senior director for research science, Abbott Rapid Diagnostics.

.Testing Our Limits, Episode 4: The Time to Deliver

So the test is ready. It’s cleared by the FDA to bring to the world. Just one challenge remains: How to make enough of them? And how to do it without delay? With the full support from Abbott CEO Robert Ford through the ranks of the company, we ramped production at record speed to meet a demand that has only continued to grow.

“For something like this, it’s typically an 18- to 24-month timeframe. As you’re thinking about how you can pull this off, you have to undo and basically unlearn a lot of the things. The muscle memory part, you need to set that aside and almost start from a complete white sheet of paper. It feels like you’re flying the plane while you’re trying to change the engines at the same time,” said Scott House, senior vice president for quality assurance and engineering services, Abbott.

Added John R. Hackett Jr., divisional vice president for applied research and technology, Abbott Diagnostics: “You can have the best test in the world and if you can’t manufacture it, you’re not going to do many people a great deal of good.”

Testing Our Limits, Episode 5: Bringing Testing to the Masses

Our strategy was clear from the beginning: An abundance of new and innovative tests — able to be used in various situations — will help us get back to a more normal life.

"I would use the analogy of building a house. You wouldn't build a house with just a hammer or just a screwdriver. We need to build out the toolbox from lateral flow test, rapid diagnostic tests. All of these different technologies are within Abbott’s portfolio," Cloherty said.

.Testing Our Limits, Episode 6: The Real Impact

Our tests have been incredibly helpful in fighting this pandemic and have improved people's lives. And our partners on the frontlines in urgent care settings and hospitals see the impact firsthand. While it’s a moment to be proud of the work Abbott has done, the pandemic continues. This is not the end. We will continue pushing forward to produce and deliver as many testing options as we can.

"We're definitely not done yet. There's a lot of work to do. And every stage of the pandemic brings new questions that we haven't asked yet. And as those new questions arise, we need new diagnostics tests that are going to enable us to answer those questions," Rodgers said.