U.S. Cotton, LLC has secured a $6.5 million Department of Defense (DOD) contract to increase domestic production of polyester-tipped swabs used in COVID-19 home test kits.
The effort, in accordance with the Department of Health and Human Services, would also aid COVID-19 mass testing settings.
U.S. Cotton is a subsidiary of Parkdale, Inc. The company’s test swab is designed for hospital and laboratory settings and allows for an easier self-administered test when used at home.
The effort is spearheaded by the DOD’s Defense Assisted Acquisition Cell (DA2) in conjunction with the Department of the Air Force’s Acquisition COVID-19 Task Force (DAF ACT), officials noted. The award is funded via the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to support domestic industrial base expansion for critical medical resources.
The contract would enable U.S. Cotton to increase its production from 92 million polyester swab tips per month to 371 million polyester swab tips per month in Cleveland, Ohio, by May 2022 to support domestic COVID-19 testing.