Cue Health receives $480 million in investment from the HHS to boost manufacturing of coronavirus test

Johnson & Johnson-backed manufacturer Cue Health has received $481 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to boost the manufacturing of its coronavirus tests.

The manufacturer’s coronavirus test is able to produce results in about 20 minutes of testing without the need to process at a lab.

“Cue’s tests provide results in about 20 minutes with the kind of accuracy provided by lab tests that can take several days, adding to our dramatically expanding supply of rapid tests that can support safe reopening,” said Secretary of HSS Alex Azar, in a statement.

Cue is backed by major health care and pharmaceutical companies, including Johnson & Johnson. With the HHS investment, Cue will increase its daily production to 100,000 by March. The department also stated that the U.S. will acquire 6 million tests and 30,000 lab instruments to effectively process the tests.

The Cue coronavirus test is a molecular test that uses a nasal swab, the Cue Sample Wand, to collect sample from the lower part of the nose. This is different from other molecular tests that collect samples by inserting nasopharyngeal swabs into deep parts of the nose.

Another distinct feature about the Cue test is that it can deliver results directly to mobile devices through the Cue Heath mobile app, according to the HHS.

“Today’s announcement of millions of additional rapid tests further demonstrate that the Administration is sparing no effort to expense to save lives and help our country safely open, re-open, and stay open,” said Michael Bars, White House spokesman.

Cue Health CEO Ayub Khattak said the Department of Health and Human Services awarded Cue Health with the investment after closely studying the accuracy of the tests as conducted by Mayo Clinic. Although, the study is yet to be published.

“The Cue testing system is highly sensitive and specific, and nearly equivalent to the best large referral laboratory systems,” said Brett Giroir, assistant secretary of health in charge of government’s testing effort, in a statement.

“This investment will allow Cue Health, Inc. to expand its footprint and significantly scale up production, and by doing so enable this technology to be deployed throughout our testing ecosystem to benefit all Americans.”

Earlier in June, Cue announced that it was been given authorization by the Food and Drug Administration to use its test in emergency use. However, the test was to be only used “under the supervision of qualified medical personnel.”

Cue’s test was developed in partnership with HHS-backed Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority which has been since 2018. The partnership was newly formed when the BARDA awarded Cue with $14 million to develop a molecular test for influenza.

“I think that there’s a really nice arc to this [the partnership],” said Khattak. “They recognized the potential. They worked on it. They had an option in there that anticipated possibly coronavirus. That got activated and we got the product out into the market.”