FREDERICK, MD. — Matan will open a U.S. manufacturing facility in Frederick for the digital diagnostics company, Ellume. Once fully operational, the facility will have the capacity to produce 19 million Ellume COVID-19 Home Tests per month. The facility is on track to begin limited operation in the second half of 2021, and will be Ellume’s first U.S. located facility.
The Ellume COVID-19 Home Test was the first rapid COVID-19 self-test to be granted Emergency Use Authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for both asymptomatic and symptomatic use without a prescription. In February, Ellume announced a $231.8 million investment from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to accelerate production of its COVID-19 home tests. The agreement provided funding to support the establishment of Ellume’s first U.S. manufacturing facility. As part of this agreement, Ellume will provide 8.5 million COVID-19 home tests to the U.S. government by end of the year.
Ellume’s U.S. operation will include two manufacturing facilities totaling more than 180,000 square feet that Matan Progress Labs is developing. Matan, a Washington, D.C.-based commercial real estate development firm, says the company will deliver the first two buildings in July for Ellume. The facilities will begin limited production of Ellume’s COVID-19 Home Tests in the second half of 2021, and scale-up production capacity through the remainder of the year.
The new U.S.-based facilities built upon Ellume’s existing manufacturing facility in Brisbane, Australia, which is already supplying COVID-19 Home Tests for use throughout the United States. In partnership with U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative, Ellume continues to increase its production capacity for its retail partners like CVS, as well as additional corporate employers and educational institutions.
Ellume’s new Frederick campus will be located close to Washington, D.C., as well as academic teaching hospitals and healthcare organizations. The company is recruiting for 1,500 new positions in the area, such as technical roles in engineering and science. Ellume is working in close partnership with the Frederick County Office of Economic Development and the Maryland Department of Commerce.