FDA Considers Exclusive License to Patent for Coronavirus Tests

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is considering granting an exclusive license for a government-owned patent on equipment to detect the novel coronavirus to the U.S. unit of a Chinese testing company, according to a Federal Register notice.

Advion, an Ithaca, N.Y.-based unit of Beijing Bohui Innovation Biotechnology Co., would get a worldwide license to a patent for a virus detection method different from the standard approach to diagnosing the coronavirus, according to the notice scheduled to be published Friday. The patent would be for a “field-deployable mass spectrometer diagnostic” to detect viruses—including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19—bacteria and ...