Abbott Laboratories plans expansion into Westbrook to boost production of virus test kits

Abbott Laboratories, which makes rapid-result COVID-19 test kits in Scarborough, is planning to expand and ramp up production in Westbrook.

The company is renovating and expanding a building on Bradley Drive, which had been used as a distribution center for sporting goods retailer Olympia Sports, to convert it into a manufacturing facility for COVID-19 test kits. Olympia was acquired last fall by JackRabbit, which operates stores in 17 states. Olympia had more than 150 stores before the acquisition, mostly in the Northeast, but it announced in December that 76 stores would close.

Abbott is headquartered in Chicago. In Scarborough, it produces about 50,000 of its ID Now COVID-19 test kits daily. Abbott says the tests determine within about 15 minutes whether a person has been infected with the respiratory disease caused by coronavirus. Read more