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Washington: The Biden administration has signed a $300 million ($US230 million) deal with Australian firm Ellume to dramatically ramp up the production and distribution of rapid at-home COVID-19 tests in the US.
The deal between Ellume, the Department of Defence and the Department of Health and Human Services includes the purchase of 8.5 million COVID-19 tests that will be distributed across America.
In December Ellume became the first company to win approval from US regulators to sell rapid at-home COVID-19 tests that don’t require a prescription
Ellume chief executive Dr Sean Parsons CEO with a home COVID test.CREDIT:ATTILA CSASZAR
Andy Slavitt, a senior adviser to the White House COVID-19 response team, said on Tuesday (AEDT) that the Brisbane-based company is expected to produce 19 million tests a month by the end of the year.
Slavitt said the deal was an important step towards mass testing and a lowering of prices.
“There’s a chicken-and-egg problem, which we have taken a step to solve today,” he said.
When announcing an emergency use authorisation for the tests last year Stephen Hahn, the former head of the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA), hailed the moment as “a major milestone in diagnostic testing for COVID-19”.
Lamar Alexander, then the chair of the Senate health committee, described it as “a genuine breakthrough in COVID-19 testing”.
Ellume’s test is expected to cost around US$30 ($39) and deliver results in around 20 minutes.
To use the test, a person uses a nasal swab and inserts their sample into a digital analyser that comes with the product. Their COVID-19 results are then transmitted to their smartphone via Bluetooth.
Sean Parsons, Ellume’s founder and chief executive, said the product would be available over-the-counter at pharmacies or online. “It’s not dissimilar to how the home pregnancy testing works,” he told 2GB program Ben Fordham Live on Tuesday morning after the deal was announced.
“It’s about making testing accessible and affordable without compromising on the quality.”
Dr Parsons said Ellume’s was the only product on the US market that had over-the-counter clearance from the FDA, could be used by children and adults, and be used for both asymptomatic and symptomatic testing.
“We’ve been developing this technology for a decade,” he said. “This is part of the puzzle. It doesn’t replace masks and it certainly doesn’t replace vaccines. It’s another piece of the response puzzle to help America get going again.”
Ellume will retain and improve its production capacity in Australia. But it will also build another larger production facility in the US. “[It will be a] bigger one, to be able to supply these diagnostic products to the American market,” Dr Parsons said.
“Our focus is really solely on the US market… Ellume has no products currently for sale in Australia.”
However, he said the company would “certainly be open” to discussions with the Australian government. “The pandemic is far from over... We can’t keep the borders shut forever. We will need to explore new technologies as we look forward to resuming some kind of life as normal,” he said.
Dr Parsons had previously said the company’s main focus was the US rather than countries such as Australia where the virus is much more under control.
“Our technology is best suited to places where the coronavirus numbers are making it hard for the healthcare system to keep up,” he told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age in December.
“When we’re supplying as much as America can use, we will look at other countries but right now it’s all about the US.”
Parsons founded Ellume in 2010 after working on the swine flu pandemic, and went on to create the first at-home test for influenza. The company has around 200 employees, most of them in Australia.
www.theage.com.au
The deal between Ellume, the Department of Defence and the Department of Health and Human Services includes the purchase of 8.5 million COVID-19 tests that will be distributed across America.
In December Ellume became the first company to win approval from US regulators to sell rapid at-home COVID-19 tests that don’t require a prescription
Ellume chief executive Dr Sean Parsons CEO with a home COVID test.CREDIT:ATTILA CSASZAR
Andy Slavitt, a senior adviser to the White House COVID-19 response team, said on Tuesday (AEDT) that the Brisbane-based company is expected to produce 19 million tests a month by the end of the year.
Slavitt said the deal was an important step towards mass testing and a lowering of prices.
“There’s a chicken-and-egg problem, which we have taken a step to solve today,” he said.
When announcing an emergency use authorisation for the tests last year Stephen Hahn, the former head of the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA), hailed the moment as “a major milestone in diagnostic testing for COVID-19”.
Lamar Alexander, then the chair of the Senate health committee, described it as “a genuine breakthrough in COVID-19 testing”.
Ellume’s test is expected to cost around US$30 ($39) and deliver results in around 20 minutes.
To use the test, a person uses a nasal swab and inserts their sample into a digital analyser that comes with the product. Their COVID-19 results are then transmitted to their smartphone via Bluetooth.
Sean Parsons, Ellume’s founder and chief executive, said the product would be available over-the-counter at pharmacies or online. “It’s not dissimilar to how the home pregnancy testing works,” he told 2GB program Ben Fordham Live on Tuesday morning after the deal was announced.
“It’s about making testing accessible and affordable without compromising on the quality.”
Dr Parsons said Ellume’s was the only product on the US market that had over-the-counter clearance from the FDA, could be used by children and adults, and be used for both asymptomatic and symptomatic testing.
“We’ve been developing this technology for a decade,” he said. “This is part of the puzzle. It doesn’t replace masks and it certainly doesn’t replace vaccines. It’s another piece of the response puzzle to help America get going again.”
Ellume will retain and improve its production capacity in Australia. But it will also build another larger production facility in the US. “[It will be a] bigger one, to be able to supply these diagnostic products to the American market,” Dr Parsons said.
“Our focus is really solely on the US market… Ellume has no products currently for sale in Australia.”
However, he said the company would “certainly be open” to discussions with the Australian government. “The pandemic is far from over... We can’t keep the borders shut forever. We will need to explore new technologies as we look forward to resuming some kind of life as normal,” he said.
Dr Parsons had previously said the company’s main focus was the US rather than countries such as Australia where the virus is much more under control.
“Our technology is best suited to places where the coronavirus numbers are making it hard for the healthcare system to keep up,” he told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age in December.
“When we’re supplying as much as America can use, we will look at other countries but right now it’s all about the US.”
Parsons founded Ellume in 2010 after working on the swine flu pandemic, and went on to create the first at-home test for influenza. The company has around 200 employees, most of them in Australia.
Australian firm signs $300m deal with US government for COVID tests
The deal between Brisbane-based Ellume and the Biden administration includes the purchase of 8.5 million COVID-19 tests that will be distributed across America.
