Biden administration announces $137M deal to boost production of key Covid test component

The Defense Department has announced a $137 million contract to make more of a key component of rapid Covid tests to boost their production.

The company, Millipore Sigma, plans to build a new facility over a three-year-period to produce nitrocellulose membranes, the paper that shows the results in rapid tests, in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. That will support the production of more than 83 million tests a month, the Pentagon said in a statement Wednesday.