BARDA funds $35.1M to LightDeck Diagnostics to increase COVID-19 test production capacity

On July 6, 2021, the Department of Defense (DoD), on behalf of and in coordination with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), awarded a $35.1 million contract to LightDeck Diagnostics to increase the production capacity of LightDeck’s SARS-CoV-2 Ultra-Rapid Antigen and COVID-19 Total Antibody Tests.

These unique point-of-care tests deliver laboratory quality results in five minutes. This industrial base expansion effort will increase LightDeck Diagnostics’ domestic production capability of their SARS-CoV-2 Ultra-Rapid Antigen and COVID-19 Total Antibody Tests in Boulder, Colorado, from 50,000 tests per month to 1 million tests per month by September 2022.

The DoD’s Defense Assisted Acquisition Cell (DA2) led this effort in coordination with the Department of the Air Force’s Acquisition COVID-19 Task Force (DAF ACT). HHS’ Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), funded this effort through the Health Care Enhancement Act (HCEA) to support domestic industrial base expansion for critical medical resources.

Read more: https://www.medicalcountermeasures.gov/newsroom/2021/lightdeckdiag/