Australian wing of Brisbane-born rapid test innovator Ellume enters administration

Brisbane-based home diagnostics firm Ellume has put its Australian wing into voluntary administration, 18 months after securing a $304 million US government contract to boost its COVID-19 test production capacity overseas.

ASIC data shows Ellume Limited entered external administration on Thursday.

The ABC reports John Park and Joanne Dunne of FTI Consulting were appointed as administrators, and plan to operate the company as a going concern as they assess the business’ viability.

The company’s US operations reportedly remain unaffected.

Founded by former clinician Sean Parsons in 2009, Ellume provides rapid diagnostics kits allowing patients to test themselves for infectious diseases at home.

The promise of its home flu-testing kits — allowing users to deposit a small nasal swab into a small sample reader, and interpret those results via smartphone app — saw Ellume raise $5 million from investors in 2019.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Ellume positioned its products as a viable, DIY alternative to lab testing systems, which came under considerable strain through 2020 and early 2021.

The Queensland government also funded Ellume through its Essential Goods and Supply Chain program, designed to bolster manufacturers hit by COVID-19 lockdowns.

The company’s potential led to a $304 million contract with the US Department of Defense in February 2021, with the deal supplying 8.5 million test kits to the American government.

The deal also intended to boost Ellume’s international production capacity, with the goal of creating 640,000 tests per day by the end of 2021.

At home, the story was different: while American health authorities gave the green light for Ellume to offer its COVID-19 test kits, Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) took considerably longer to authorise the use of at-home tests.

Before the TGA rules over rapid antigen tests changed in late 2021, Parsons told the The Australian Financial Review that Ellume’s separate COVID-19 detection system could help Australia find a “new normal” when dealing with the pandemic.

At that point, a significant portion of Ellume’s Brisbane-made test kits were destined for the US market, instead of domestic consumers.

The company faced further hardship in late 2021 when US regulators ordered the recall of 2.2 million Ellume at-home COVID-19 tests after receiving 35 reports of false positive readings.

“You have my personal commitment that we have learned from this experience, we have implemented additional controls to ensure our product meets our high quality standards and we are going to do everything in our power to regain your trust,” Parsons said after the recall.