$230 million deal with Australian company

USA Today | February 1, 2021

The Biden administration on Monday announced a big push to make rapid COVID-19 home tests available with a $230 million federal contract to an Australian company.

The Department of Defense’s deal will allow Ellume to open a U.S. factory and make 19 million rapid tests each month, 8.5 million of which will be provided to the federal government, officials said.

Ellume is the only company to get U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorization to make a home COVID-19 test that doesn’t need a lab or a medical provider’s prescription. The 15-minute test includes a nasal swab for users to collect a sample and place into a cartridge and is used with a smartphone app that displays results.

Andy Slavitt, senior adviser to the White House COVID-19 response team, said the deal will spur mass production and lower costs of rapid tests.

“There’s a chicken and egg problem that we have actually taken a step to solve today,” said Slavitt.

Slavitt acknowledged policy questions remain unanswered on how federal, state and local governments and school districts will make these tests available and affordable. “Things that are not low cost and accessible don’t do us all the good that we need,” he said.

When Ellume gained FDA authorization in December, the company said it would sell the rapid tests for $30. But the company did not have manufacturing capability to make the tests widely available to consumers.

On Monday, the company said it continues to pursue consumer sales through yet-to-be-named retailers and partnerships with public and private institutions.

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Duis elementum cursus ipsum vel condimentum. Donec accumsan arcu libero, non tincidunt neque tempus eget. Aliquam rhoncus sapien id est lacinia, vitae faucibus neque hendrerit. Morbi sit amet posuere ligula. Vestibulum at posuere sapien, nec tincidunt purus. Maecenas porttitor nunc eu eleifend auctor.

Morbi interdum turpis ac mauris scelerisque bibendum. Fusce tincidunt ultricies quam, id pretium massa fermentum in. Ut enim eros, pharetra quis fermentum ac.