NEW YORK — MicroGem said on Thursday that it has acquired engineering firm Jump Start Manufacturing in a move aimed at helping it scale up production of its Spitfire6830 PCR-based SARS-CoV-2 saliva test.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
MicroGem's Spitfire6830 uses a microfluidic cartridge and is designed to detect SARS-CoV-2 at the point of care with results available in 15 minutes. MicroGem recently received a $40.9 million contract from the National Institutes of Health to support development of the test, which the Charlottesville, Virginia-based company expects to submit to the US Food and Drug Administration for Emergency Use Authorization by the end of February, a company spokesperson said.
MicroGem also said that it has established new manufacturing facilities in Utah and New Hampshire that, along with its operations in Charlottesville, will give it the capacity to produce 160,000 Spitfire6830 tests a day. The acquisition of Nashua, New Hampshire-based Jump Start is expected to speed production and deployment of the test, it said.