US Cotton develops swabs for testing Covid-19

Parkdale Mills subsidiary US Cotton, the nation's largest manufacturer of cotton swabs, is collaborating with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Gates Foundation, UnitedHealth Group and Quantigen to step up production of spun synthetic swabs, needed to diagnose Covid-19. US Cotton has developed a fully synthetic, polyester-based Q-tip-type swab.

Pic: Parkdale Mills

The US Food and Drug Administration has announced that these synthetic swabs - with a design similar to Q-tips - could be used to test patients for the coronavirus. The FDA has determined that spun synthetic swabs can be used in Covid-19 testing based on the results from a clinical investigation stemming from its collaboration with UnitedHealth Group, the Gates Foundation and Quantigen.

US Cotton, based in Cleveland, Ohio, plans to leverage its large-scale manufacturing capacity to rapidly increase production of large quantities of the polyester swabs, which are in short supply for testing kits across the country.

John Nims, president of US Cotton said, "We stand ready to serve in this important fight and want to do all we can to help deploy these testing kit swabs for the American people. We greatly appreciate the collaborative efforts with the UnitedHealth Group, Quantigen, and the Gates Foundation to help support these necessary clinical studies to help advance this critically needed product to market."

Anderson Warlick, chair and CEO of Parkdale/US Cotton said, "Many thanks to Dr. Peter Navarro for his incredible leadership and for all his support. We also greatly appreciate our Ohio Senators Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman and Governor Mike DeWine in these efforts."

This is the second major Covid-19 relief project that Parkdale has helped lead. Earlier Parkdale constructed an entire supply chain that includes Hanes, Fruit of the Loom, and many other US companies in the production of PPE masks much needed by frontline medical staff treating the virus.