Charleston company that makes COVID-19 tests announces plans for $1 million expansion
A company that assembles and distributes COVID-19 tests plans to expand its operations in Charleston County, a move that will allow the biotech company to increase its capacity to keep up with anticipated nationwide demand.
The $1 million investment announced Tuesday by Vikor Scientific LLC will create 148 new jobs. The expansion is expected to be completed by January, a sign of how quickly the company is looking to grow.
“The prior backorder of testing supplies was crippling for the U.S. during the beginning of the pandemic, and no one wants to experience that again,” Vikor Scientific co-founder Shea Harrelson said. “This expansion will help us to continue to stay ahead and increase the production of our testing kits for both COVID and our other infectious disease molecular panels by the hundreds of thousands, which is vital as we enter the sick season.”
Founded in 2018, Vikor Scientific is a molecular diagnostics company that specializes in finding tangible solutions in the treatment of infectious disease.
The company provides clinicians with customized molecular diagnostic panels that can accurately detect and quantify pathogens, such as the novel coronavirus.
On Tuesday, officials with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control reported 2,115 new COVID-19 cases. It was the fifth consecutive day state health officials reported more than 2,000 new coronavirus cases in the Palmetto State.
“As we continue to respond to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the remarkable work of companies like Vikor Scientific has proven critical to keeping our citizens healthy and safe,” Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg said in a statement. “Not only will this expansion create 148 new jobs in Charleston, but it will increase our ability to provide COVID-19 tests to those who need them throughout the state and across the country.”
Vikor Scientific began doing COVID-19 testing in mid-March. The expansion efforts will allow the company to increase its capacity to assemble and distribute both COVID-19 and full molecular panel testing kits across the country.
Headquartered in Charleston, the company has labs in both Charleston and Philadelphia. In March, the company also dedicated 2,000 of the 22,000 square feet at its Charleston headquarters to COVID-19 testing.
Vikor Scientific is a tenant at the WestEdge building, an eight-story office building on Charleston’s waterfront overlooking the Ashley River.
The building is part of the long-awaited WestEdge development that, when complete, will encompass more than 3 million square feet of space on 60 acres on the western part of the Charleston peninsula.
This story was originally published December 8, 2020 at 12:43 PM.
