Abbott Laboratories (ABT) Stock Rose 8% in Pre-Market Trading and Is Up 6.83% Now

UTC by Darya Rudz · 3 min read
Abbott Laboratories (ABT) Stock Rose 8% in Pre-Market Trading and Is Up 6.83% Now
Photo: Depositphotos

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) stock rises further following the company’s announcement about its system for identifying coronavirus. Today, during the pre-market hours, Abbott Laboratories shares were 8.77% up. Now they are 6.83% up.

It is high time to see where do things stand in healthcare companies. One of them, Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT), has recently got FDA approval on its coronavirus test m2000 RealTime System, which takes a 5-minute minimum to get the results. The test is portable and convenient, therefore, any health-care setting can use it. As a result of the announcement, Abbott Laboratories stock drastically rose.

On Friday, Abbott Laboratories stock plunged by 1.65% and closed at $74.56. Notably, that day, its shares had fallen 14% year to date. However, it rose nearly 2% after hours to trade around $76. Today, during the pre-market hours, Abbott Laboratories shares are 8.77% up at $81.10. At the time of writing, ABT is trading at $79.65 (+6.83%).

How Abbott Laboratories Test Functions

According to the company, its COVID-19 molecular test looks for fragments of the virus genome. This genome can quickly be detected when present at high levels. First, a health care worker takes a swab from the nose or the back of the throat of a patient. Next, this sample is mixed with a clinical solution that breaks open the coronavirus to release its RNA. Then, the Abbott ID Now system identifies and amplifies select sequences of the COVID-19 genome in the mixture. The system ignores contamination from other possible viruses.

Robert B. Ford, president and chief operating officer at Abbott Laboratories, commented:

“The COVID-19 pandemic will be fought on multiple fronts, and a portable molecular test that offers results in minutes adds to the broad range of diagnostic solutions needed to combat this virus. With rapid testing on ID NOW, healthcare providers can perform molecular point-of-care testing outside the traditional four walls of a hospital in outbreak hotspots.”

Abbott’s ID NOW COVID-19 tests will be available this week to healthcare providers in urgent care settings in the US, where the majority of ID NOW instruments are in use today. Besides, the company is working with the Administration to deploy tests to areas where they can have the greatest impact.

Another Vaccine Is Tested

Earlier, American pharmaceutical company Moderna Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA) started testing its coronavirus vaccine. The drug aims to use a natural function called messenger RNA to protect against the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19. A short while ago, testing of another vaccine started. This drug, the bacillus Calmette-Guerin, or BCG, has been preventing tuberculosis for about 100 years. Now health-care workers in Melbourne use the drug to see if it will protect them against the coronavirus.

According to the World Health Organisation, it is important to know whether BCG could be used to guard against the disease.

Nigel Curtis, head of infectious diseases research at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, said:

“We need to think of every possible way that we can protect health-care workers. And there’s going to be a particular need to reduce the amount of time that our health-care workers are absent.”

Similar research is taking place in the Netherlands. Other potential trial sites include more Australian cities, as well as Boston in the U.S.

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