NEW YORK – Meridian Bioscience said on Wednesday that it has received $5.5 million from the National Institute of Health's Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics initiative, along with a grant of undisclosed size from JobsOhio, to expand production capacity of its SARS-CoV-2 PCR test.
The funding will be used to increase production of the firm's Revogene test kits in its Quebec City, Canada facility, as well as to build a new semi-automated two-line production facility in Newtown, Ohio. The expansion will be completed in phases and is expected to result in a production capacity of 800,000 tests per month by the end of 2021, the company said in a statement.
The RADx grant is the second Meridian has received, after a $1 million grant in December to expedite the launch of its Revogene SARS-CoV-2 test. The new grant signals a move to Phase 2 of the RADx initiative, which is focused on scaling manufacturing to increase testing capacity in the US. The company submitted the Revogene test to the US Food and Drug Administration for Emergency Use Authorization in December.
Meridian also received a JobsOhio Economic Development Grant as part of its commitment to create 45 new jobs in Newtown and invest more than $7 million in Ohio, the company said. Newton also provided tax abatements for the buildout of the newly-leased facility. Meridian declined to disclose the amount of the JobsOhio grant.