U.S. to Pay $1.2 Billion for Abbott, Celltrion Covid Tests (1)

The federal government is spending nearly $1.2 billion to purchase 187 million rapid Covid-19 tests from Abbott Laboratories and Celltrion Inc., according to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services official.

The deals, which include options to buy more, are part of an investment of about $2 billion announced by the Biden administration earlier this month to make the rapid tests more widely available. The government is also using the Defense Production Act to build out manufacturing capacity.

The products, known as antigen tests, return results in about 15 minutes on-site, without needing to be sent out to ...