IDEXX, state partnership quadruples Maine's COVID-19 test capacity

Courtesy / Maine DHHS The new mobile lab for COVID-19 tests, supported by IDEXX, will allow the state to increase testing capacity from 6,000 to 25,000 a week.

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By Staff

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services and Westbrook-based IDEXX Laboratories Inc. (Nasdaq: IDXX) have launched a mobile lab for handling COVID-19 tests, and said on Thursday it will quadruple the state’s capacity for detecting the deadly disease.

The new mobile facility, now parked outside the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Augusta, will increase the state’s test throughput from 6,000 per week to more than 25,000, according to a news release.

The mobile site, which serves as an extension of the state’s Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory, began accepting specimens and reporting out results this week.

The mobile lab is supported by federal funds, and through the partnership formed in May by the state and IDEXX. The company, whose core business provides medical diagnostics for animal health, pivoted in April to produce a human COVID-19 test through a subsidiary in Georgia. Now IDEXX is contributing tests, supplies and lab personnel for the state.

DHHS Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew said in the release, “The mobile lab is critical to expanding Maine’s testing capacity and keeping infection rates low as we enter the fall. We thank IDEXX for their strong partnership, valued collaboration, and contribution to Maine’s high ranking among states in COVID-19 response.”

IDEXX Corporate Vice President Olivier te Boekhorst said, “We are inspired by the ongoing dedication of so many who continue to work tirelessly to test, treat, and contain COVID-19. We are pleased to leverage the capabilities of IDEXX to contribute to the fight against this pandemic both here in Maine and across the globe.”

Also on Thursday, DHHS said it is extending financial support of the 27 current “swab and send” test sites throughout the state until at least Oct. 31.

The reimbursement, which had been scheduled to end on Monday, allows free testing for Mainers who believe they may have COVID-19 or could have been exposed to the virus, with or without symptoms. After October, the sites will bill residents’ insurers for the service.

The swab and send program was launched in July. In addition, roughly 40 other sites throughout Maine provide public testing for COVID-19.