On Wednesday, March 25, 2020 (3–4 p.m. Eastern), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will host a virtual Town Hall for clinical laboratories and commercial manufacturers that are developing or have developed diagnostic tests for SAR-CoV-2.

The purpose of the Town Hall is to help answer technical questions about the development and validation of tests for SARS-CoV-2 and the FDA’s updated policy on COVID-19 Diagnostics issued on March 16, 2020, Policy for Diagnostic Tests for Coronavirus Disease-2019 during the Public Health Emergency .

FDA will hold additional virtual town halls on the following dates:

  • April 1, 2020
  • April 8, 2020
  • April 15, 2020
  • April 22, 2020
  • April 29, 2020
  • May 13, 2020
  • May 20, 2020
  • May 27, 2020

All meetings are scheduled for 1:15–2:15 p.m. Eastern.

The guidance is designed to provide a policy to help accelerate the availability of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) diagnostic tests developed during the public health emergency in order to achieve more rapid and widespread testing capacity in the United States.

For general questions, including about this Town Hall, contact Division of Industry and Consumer Education . For specific questions about COVID-19 diagnostic development, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .