San Diego-based Quidel Corporation is opening a new manufacturing facility in Carlsbad, Calif, that will be dedicated to the production of Quidel’s QuickVue line of products. The 128,000-square-foot facility will be the company’s highest-volume production plant in the world and begins operations in the second half of 2021 with a mission to produce 600 million QuickVue SARS rapid antigen tests per year for the detection and diagnosis of covid-19 infections.

Quidel plans to install multiple manufacturing lines at the Carlsbad facility and hire approximately 400 new employees with a mission to scale Quidel’s operations from 50 million QuickVue tests per year to 50 million tests per month at full capacity, including non-covid-19 diagnostic assays currently in-market or under development. The company is actively hiring to fill open positions including engineers, chemists, technicians, manufacturing, purchasing, sourcing, and support services.

“From the first days of the pandemic, Quidel has stepped up to meet the covid-19 challenge head-on with innovative diagnostic technologies to detect coronavirus infections and expanded manufacturing to democratize access to affordable and high-quality testing,” says Douglas Bryant, president and CEO of Quidel Corporation. “The opening of our massive new QuickVue manufacturing plant is our boldest move yet and is expected to provide Quidel with the scale necessary to serve the needs of communities and institutions for frequent testing now and for years to come.”

Quidel received emergency use authorization (EUA) from the FDA for its QuickVue SARS Antigen Test for covid-19 in December. The company’s QuickVue lateral-flow technology is visually read by the user and provides results in 10 minutes from nasal swab samples. Initial applications for QuickVue covid-19 tests range from hospitals and physician offices to schools and pharmacies. Quidel is seeking EUA for a new QuickVue At-Home covid-19 Test for over-the-counter sale directly to consumers.

Quidel’s new QuickVue SARS Antigen test offers excellent performance for the detection of SARS-CoV-2, with positive results agreeing with PCR 96.6% of the time and negative results agreeing 99.3% of the time, thereby providing quick, reliable results to patients, their families, and healthcare workers alike.

For more information, visit Quidel