An Australian Covid-19 rapid testing company has gone into administration just two years after making international headlines for securing a multimillion-dollar deal with US health authorities.
On Thursday, the Australian division of Brisbane-based biotech Ellume went into voluntary administration.
Ellume was founded in 2009 by Dr Sean Parsons and according to an Ellume spokesperson, employs 180 people in Australia.
The biotech company’s operations in the US are understood to be separate and are not affected by the appointment of administrators.
Ellume shot into the public spotlight after signing a contract with the Biden administration in December 2020 to supply Covid rapid home testing kits to Americans.
The deal was supposed to net them $300 million but two years later they have reportedly racked up massive losses.
According to reports lodged with ASIC since 2020, the company has lost $100 million due to a combination of Covid RATs becoming widely available in the US and also an expensive law suit that didn’t rule in their favour.
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