Ellume establishes US diagnostics plant

Brisbane medtech company Ellume has established a diagnostics manufacturing facility in Maryland in the United States, even as it ramps up production of its rapid Covid-19 test kits at its Richlands plant in Queensland.

The company is rapidly increasing production to meet a $US230 million contract from the United States Department of Defense to make its kits and establish a sustainable diagnostics supply chain for possible future pandemics.

Ellume said it was working with local authorities in Maryland and Matan Progress Labs ‘and is actively recruiting for 1,500 new positions in the region’.

The new US plant of 180,000 square feet will begin production in the second half of the year.

The company has pledged to produce 8.5 million of its rapid test kits for the US government by the end of this year, sourced from Australia and the US.

Once fully operational the plant will have the capacity to produce 19 million Ellume Covid-19 home tests per month.

Ellume CEO Dr Sean Parsons said routine testing was essential in monitoring pandemic hotspots and emerging variants of the disease.

Parsons said: “This new facility will help to ensure Covid-19 home tests are mobilised quickly at scale and also establishes an ongoing domestic source of diagnostics for potential future outbreaks.”

Ellume has also developed rapid test kits for diseases such as influenza and latent tuberculosis.

Picture: Ellume

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