OraSure Technologies has secured a $109m contract from the US Department of Defense (DOD) to accelerate the production of InteliSwab Covid-19 rapid test.
The contract has been granted by the US DOD, in coordination with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to help expand the manufacturing capacity of InteliSwab Covid-19 rapid tests.
OraSure will use the federal funding for the expansion of production capacity by 100 million tests per annum by March 2024.
The company will retrofit its existing Bethlehem location in Pennsylvania to support increased manufacturing and intends to add a new facility in another US location, which is yet to be determined.
OraSure also has internally funded expansion plans to reach 120 million tests per annum by the second quarter of next year, in addition to the new contract.
OraSure Technologies president and CEO Dr Stephen Tang said: “The U.S. government’s selection of OraSure’s InteliSwab rapid test for this national pandemic preparedness effort is a great honor and ensures we can make the necessary investments to scale manufacturing in order to support our nation’s pandemic response.
“This test will play a key role in ensuring our nation is prepared to continue the fight against this, and possible future pandemics and potential resurgences in disease activity.”
In June this year, OraSure secured emergency use authorisations (EUAs) from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for three of its InteliSwab Covid-19 rapid tests.
The EUAs are granted for over-the-counter (OTC) use without a prescription, as well as for professional use in point of care (POC) CLIA-waived settings and prescription (Rx) home use.
Developed to use samples self-collected from the lower nostrils, the InteliSwab’s design features a built-in swab fully incorporated into the test stick.
The test stick will be swirled in a pre-measured buffer solution, upon users swabbing their lower nostrils. The results are observed on the test stick within 30 minutes without using instruments, batteries, smartphone or laboratory analysis.
