Dive Brief:
- MaximBio, a Maryland-based medical device manufacturer, received a $49.5 million award from the Department of Health and Human Services earlier this month for the domestic production of COVID-19 tests.
- The funding will enable the company to maintain its test manufacturing operations in the U.S., COO Jonathan Maa said in a Jan. 4 press release.
- MaximBio is among a dozen COVID test manufacturers that received a combined $600 million for increased production after the government ordered another 200 million over-the-counter tests in September for future federal use.
Dive Insight:
The U.S. has been refocusing efforts on COVID testing as cases rise across the country amid a winter surge. More than 34,000 people were hospitalized due to the virus during the week of Dec. 30, up about 17% from the week before, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Deaths, however, were down 77% from last January.
In September, the Department of Health and Human Services also reopened COVIDTests.gov to deliver COVID tests for free to households across the US.
MaximBio’s ClearDetect Covid-19 antigen at-home test was originally developed in March 2022 using grants from the Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health through the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics initiative.
Through the initiative, introduced in May 2023, MaximBio is developing a new platform to make tests more sensitive and affordable, as well as creating a COVID-19 and Influenza A/B combination test.
