Business
OraSure Awarded $109 Million Contract from U.S. Department of Defense to Ramp Manufacturing of InteliSwab™ COVID-19 Rapid Test
Agreement Ensures OraSure Will Have Sufficient Capacity to Meet Market Need for Rapid Antigen Tests and Ensure Future Preparedness BETHLEHEM, Pa., Oct. 04,
About this update from Orasure Technologies, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Agreement Ensures OraSure Will Have Sufficient Capacity to Meet Market Need for Rapid Antigen Tests and Ensure Future Preparedness\nBETHLEHEM, Pa., Oct. 04, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OraSure Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: OSUR), a global leader in point-of-care and home diagnostic testing and sample collection technologies, announced today that it has been awarded a $109 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), in coordination with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to build additional manufacturing capacity in the United States for InteliSwab™ COVID-19 rapid tests as part of the nation’s pandemic preparedness plan. InteliSwab is a remarkably simple test that rapidly detects active COVID-19 infection. It was granted three Emergency Use Authorizations (EUAs) by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in June for professional point-of-care use, prescription (Rx) home use, and over-the-counter (OTC) use. “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,” said OraSure President and CEO Stephen Tang, Ph.D. “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.” The federal funding will expand OraSure’s production capacity by 100 million tests annually, by March 2024. An existing OraSure location in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, will be retrofitted to accommodate increased manufacturing and an additional new facility will be added in another U.S. location to be determined. In addition to this contract, OraSure also has internally funded expansion plans to achieve 120 million tests annually by the second quarter of 2022. A recent study by the National Institutes of Health shows rapid antigen tests perform on par with lab PCR tests when testing at least twice per week with the antigen test.1 “Home testing options prevent the risk of further spread of the virus, and minimize the burden on the individual, making them an ideal cornerstone of any national pandemic preparedness strategy,” Tang said. “As a company we stand ready to aid in the government’s efforts to allow individuals to retu...