On Sept. 24, 2020, Yale University announced it had designated three independent laboratories to perform the university-developed SalivaDirect COVID-19 test. Along with Yale Pathology Labs – the first to offer the test – Access Medical Laboratories, Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC), and Mirimus, represent the initial wave of providers for the innovative testing method. They will make SalivaDirect™ available to people in Florida, Minnesota and New York by late September.

SalivaDirect™ was developed by a Yale School of Public Health research team led by Nathan Grubaugh, assistant professor, and Anne Wyllie, associate research scientist. Their method is less prone to supply chain bottlenecks, more economical, and less invasive than nasopharyngeal (NP) swabbing, the most common form of testing available currently. The test received FDA Emergency Use Authorization on Aug. 15.

In a spring 2020 pilot program led by the Yale School of Public Health, The National Basketball Association (NBA), and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), SalivaDirect™ was used to successfully test asymptomatic people within the NBA. This success attracted the attention of laboratories nationwide. 

SalivaDirect™ does not require any special type of swab or collection device; a saliva sample can be collected in any sterile container. As stated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, “this test is also unique because it does not require a separate nucleic acid extraction step.

This is significant because the extraction kits used for this step in other tests have been prone to shortages in the past. Being able to perform a test without these kits enhances the capacity for increased testing, while reducing the strain on available resources.”