OraSure Technologies announced Monday that it had been awarded a $109 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to build additional capacity in the United States for InteliSwab COVID-19 rapid test at its facility in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
In coordination with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the agreement ensures OraSure will have sufficient capacity to meet the needs of the market for rapid antigen tests, as well as prepare for future outbreaks.
Granted three Emergency Use Authorizations (EAUs) by the Food and Drug Administration in June for professional point-of-care use, prescription home use and over-the-counter use, InteliSwab detects active COVID-19 infection through the use of nasal swabs. The federal funding will expand OraSure’s production capacity by 100 million tests annually by March 2024. The existing company location in Bethlehem will be retrofitted to accommodate increased manufacturing and a new facility will be added in another as yet undetermined location in the U.S. Internally, OraSure has funded expansion plans to achieve 120 million tests by second quarter 2022.
“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,” OraSure President and CEO Stephen Tang, Ph.D said. “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.”