Canon Virginia to Produce COVID-19 Test Kits

Canon Virginia, Inc. announced today a new partnership with Maxim Biomedical to assemble ClearDetect COVID-19 Antigen Home Test Kits. Canon Virginia currently serves as as the America’s manufacturing, remanufacturing, and technical support center for Canon products.

MaximBio has engaged Canon Virginia to begin assembling ClearDetect COVID-19 Antigen Home Test Kits at Canon’s facility in Newport News, Virginia, with production to start in early May.

On January 19, Maxim Biomedical received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to produce and distribute its new ClearDetect COVID-19 Antigen Home Test.

Jonathan Maa, chief operating officer at MaximBio, noted that “Canon Virginia is a uniquely qualified manufacturing partner for MaximBio, with experience in a range of industries, including medical. CVI’s state-of-the-art facility provides a full range of production processes located just a few hours from our facility in Rockville, Maryland.”

The ClearDetect Test uses Lateral Flow Assay (LFA) technology with a simplified workflow that can easily be done at home without the need for medical equipment or a test reader. The test’s format involves three components, a swab, a test strip, and a test tube pre-filled with sample buffer. This eliminates reagent measuring or the need to handle dropper bottles as required with other card-based and self-test systems.

Canon Virginia is expected to be assembling more than 4 million test kits.