A vast amount of tests for COVID-19 will be supplied by a New Brunswick company for Canada.
LuminUltra Technologies is a biotech company based in Fredericton, and its president Pat Whalen says they quickly responded to the federal government’s call for business to assist in the fight against the coronavirus.
He said they were quickly connected with the Public Health Agency of Canada.
“They had a need for a domestic supply of tests to be used in the diagnostic testing chain across Canada. And that just so happened to be our core area of expertise from our international business of environmental monitoring for the last 20 years,” Whalen said.
He adds the Public Health Agency of Canada was very responsive even with all the stresses they are dealing with daily.
“It’s been a very fast process in pulling all of this together in being able to start supplying these tests so quickly. I can’t say enough about their team and our team in how everyone rallied and came together,” Whalen said.
I wanted to share an update on testing: Fredericton’s @LuminUltra is ramping up production to meet the weekly demand for test chemicals across the country. And in the past few days, we received a new batch of swabs to make sure every province has what they need to keep testing.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) April 16, 2020
Whalen said while they can meet the demand for 500,000 tests a week, they are expanding their operation in the case that need grows.
“So, we are actually in the process of acquiring additional equipment, additional facilities and we are advertising for some new roles that you can find right on our website. Everything from production scientists to supply chain professionals to sales support personnel,” Whalen said.
He said they are proud and honoured to be able to play this role in combating the pandemic across Canada.
