Hologic (NSDQ:HOLX) announced that it received a $119 million contract from the U.S. government to expand production of its COVID-19 tests.
Under the contract, Hologic will increase the production capacity of its Panther Fusion SARS-CoV-2 assay and Aptima SARS-CoV-2 assay, both of which possess emergency use authorization, according to a news release. The tests run on the company’s fully automated Panther Fusion and Panther systems.
Marlborough, Mass.-based Hologic, with the support of the contract for capital and labor investments, is expected to provide 13 million COVID-19 tests per month for the U.S. market by January 2022.
“Hologic has already made significant investments in our test production capacity, which have resulted in our contributing tens of millions of COVID tests to the United States supply,” Hologic president of diagnostic solutions Kevin Thornal said in the release. “Our manufacturing teams continue to innovate to increase our contribution, and we are very pleased to partner with the federal government to further our ability to meet the ongoing public health need.”
The U.S. Defense Dept. Joint Rapid Acquisition Cell awarded the contract in collaboration with the Department of the Air Force’s Acquisition COVID-19 Task Force and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, to award the contract with BARDA funding.
BARDA is also separately supporting the development of Hologic’s coronavirus assays.
