Over the last two days, the Department of Defense (DOD), on behalf of and in coordination with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), awarded $194.5 million across two contracts to increase domestic production capacity of test kits and pipette tips.
DOD's Defense Assisted Acquisition Cell (DA2) led these efforts in coordination with the Department of the Air Force Acquisition COVID-19 Task Force (DAF ACT).
These efforts were funded through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to enable and support domestic industrial base expansion for critical medical resources.
DOD Awards $2 Million Contract to Luminostics to Increase Domestic Production Capacity of Clip COVID-19 Point-of-Care Test Kits
On Aug.
30, 2021, DOD, in coordination with HHS, awarded $2 million to Luminostics to increase domestic production capacity of Clip COVID-19 Point-of-Care (POC) test kits.
The Luminostics COVID-19 test kit will detect COVID-19 infection using a nasal swab specimen sample and an immunoassay kit authorized by the Food and Drug Administration under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for use in POC facilities.
This industrial base expansion effort will allow Luminostics to increase test kit production capacity to 3.3 million test kits per month by March 2022 by using rapid molding and cutting devices in Palo Alto, California.
DOD Awards $192.5 Million Contract to Nalge Nunc International Corporation to Increase Domestic Production Capacity of Pipette Tips
On Aug.
31, 2021, DOD, on behalf of and in coordination with HHS, awarded a $192.5 million contract to Nalge Nunc International Corporation (Nalge), a subsidiary of Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., to increase domestic manufacturing of pipette tips.
Nalge's pipette tips are used for COVID-19 sample collection and test processing.
This industrial base expansion effort will allow Nalge to increase its monthly production capacity in North Carolina to 160 million pipette tips by August 2024.
