Innova Medical Group, a maker and distributor of COVID-19 rapid test kits, has leased 25,000 square feet of additional office space in Pasadena in a deal valued at $13.2 million.
The space, owned by CBRE Global Investors, is adjacent to Innova’s existing headquarters at 800 E. Colorado Blvd. in the Pasadena Towers I building. The company is looking to fill more than 1,600 positions there, at its COVID-19 antigen test manufacturing facilities in Orange County and at additional facilities in Brea, Pomona and Rancho Santa Margarita.
Innova plans to produce 5 million test kits per day by the end of February, eventually boosting that to 50 million a day.
“With the U.S., especially California, being hit hard by COVID-19, we are pleased our team got our Southern California facilities up and running on schedule,” Innova President and CEO Daniel Elliot said in a statement.
Kathi Constanzo of Coldwell Banker Commercial NRT represented Innova in the transaction.
“It worked out perfect that the property was able to accommodate Innova’s rapid growth,necessitating the lease expansion in the same building,” she said.
Elliott said Innova is committed to supporting U.S. customers in their efforts to quell COVID-19’s infection rate with “frequent, cost-effective and easily accessible testing.”
Used in 20 countries
A subsidiary of Pasaca Capital, Innova’s SARS-COV-2 rapid antigen test kit is being sought after by more than 20 countries, the company said.
Innova said its rapid antigen test has been proven to identify more than 95% of asymptomatic infectious people. The device maker has delivered more than 400 million COVID-19 test kits for public use in 20 countries, including the United Kingdom, Hungary, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, and for studies in the U.S.
In a four-week pilot project conducted in Liverpool, England in November, nearly half a million people took Innova rapid antigen tests, the company said, and more than 12,000 asymptomatic infectious people were identified who didn’t know they had the virus.
With results available in less than 30 minutes, the city was able to isolate infectious people, reducing the spread of the virus. Innova says it is under contract to deliver millions of additional test kits worldwide in the first quarter of 2021, many of which will ship from its Orange County production site.
Innova isn’t the only Southern California company whose technology has been harnessed to curb the spread of COVID-19.
In October, Gov. Gavin Newsom was on hand to unveil a new COVID-19 testing lab in Valencia that has boosted California’s testing capacity, reduced turnaround time for results and created scores of jobs.
The $25 million facility at 28545 Livingston Ave. was converted for its new use by diagnostics company PerkinElmer under a contract with the state.
