Covid-19 rapid testing company Ellume from Brisbane Australia collapses owing $140million
Aussie biotech company that signed huge deal with US government just three years ago collapses over $140 million
- Brisbane biotech company Ellume went on a voluntary basis last year
- The company was eyeing a failed $58 million bailout
- Australian operations are liquidated and 40 lose their jobs
An Australian biotech that made headlines after signing a huge deal to sell Covid-19 rapid test kits to the US government has collapsed after a bailout package failed to materialize.
Brisbane-based Ellume’s Australian operations went into voluntary administration in August 2022.
Administrators hoped a $58 million bid from rival self-test kit maker Hough would save the company, but the deal fell through.
The company, which helped pioneer DIY test kits for Covid-19 before they became widely available, will now be liquidated on June 13, with an estimated 40 employees losing their jobs.
Ellume’s trustees hoped a $58 million bailout by rival self-test maker Hough would save the company, but the deal fell through
It was clear that Ellume owed creditors about $140 million when it went under administration last year.
It also lost $87.9 million in its most recent reporting period, news.com.au reported.
The company was dealt a fatal blow in November 2022 when it was forced to recall 2.2 million of its products and halt production after some tests showed ‘false positives’.
The recall “had a significant impact on the group’s business and liquidity,” Ellume later reported.
Ellume was founded in Brisbane in 2009 by Dr Sean Parsons (pictured), a former emergency physician who “saw the urgent need for smarter diagnostics while working on the front lines of the 2008 H1N1 pandemic in Australia”
In February 2021, the Australian company looked poised for a bright future when it announced a $231.8 million agreement with the US Department of Defense and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to expand domestic US production of its Covid-19 19 to speed up. test at home.
“Our focus is to enable the US to minimize community transmission and reopen as soon as possible,” the company’s founder, Dr. Sean Parsons, said at the time of the announcement.
“The Ellume COVID-19 Home Test is the only authorized test of its kind and is an essential tool for the broader US pandemic response.”
Ellume was founded in Brisbane in 2009 by Dr Parsons, a former emergency physician who “saw the urgent need for smarter diagnostics while working on the frontline of Australia’s 2008 H1N1 pandemic.”
The biotech company’s US operations are unaffected by the collapse of its Australian operations.