The U.S. FDA has issued an Emergency Use Authorization for infusion pumps and infusion pump accessories, which are critical in the fight against COVID-19.

The move is similar to a previous agency authorization issued in late March that broadly covered ventilators and respiratory devices, in a bid to quickly expand their supply against the pandemic. That policy allowed alternative or modified devices to be used for ventilation, such as anesthesia gas machines, as long as they met certain criteria. Manufacturers could then request to have their product added to a list of FDA-authorized devices.

The newer authorization includes pumps and accessories used to deliver certain medications—such as Gilead’s remdesivir, which currently requires an intravenous infusion, though the company is working on an inhaled formulation of the antiviral—as well as certain devices for providing liquid nutrition and other fluids.

Read the full article on Fierce Biotech.