CALIFORNIA—On Wednesday, August 26, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the state of California signed a contract with PerkinElmer, a diagnostic company based in Massachusetts, to increase COVID-19 diagnostic test capacity. PerkinElmer will establish a new laboratory in California to support the supply chain and decrease test costs for every Californian.
The agreement will conduct an additional 150,000 tests per day with a contractual turnaround time of 24-48 hours. “The goal is to stand up a laboratory facility and begin processing tens of thousands of additional tests by November 1 and run at full capacity by no longer than March 1, 2021,” reads the official statement.
The partnership will also provide lower costs for the COVID-19 test from current prices around $150 – $200 per test to $30.78 per test at 150,000 tests per day.
The statement explains, “The state continues to evaluate new technological breakthroughs in testing, which is why this contract includes provisions that enable the contractor to adopt new technology at a lower price point. Additionally, the state plans to leverage multiple technologies or modalities with multiple laboratory partners to ensure that we diversify our testing capacities.” The government hopes the stable supply chain will contribute to all citizens in California, including communities of color.
“Every Californian, regardless of age, race, income or immigration status, needs rapid and reliable results for testing for COVID-19, if we are to ultimately contain this coronavirus,” commented Anthony Wright, Executive Director of Health Access California. “Californians will benefit from us having this increased capacity for COVID-19 testing, at a set and affordable price.”
