San Diego’s Cue Health, which made high-tech COVID-19 test kits, filed for bankruptcy following news that it would shut down and lay off all employees. It officially marks the winding down of one of San Diego’s most high-profile COVID-19 test providers during the pandemic. The local firm was once worth $2.3 billion when it went public in 2021. But declining demand for COVID-19 tests battered Cue and similar diagnostic businesses.
On Friday, the judge approved the payment of former employees, who are owed compensation and benefits following the company’s closure. In the filing, Cue noted that it has facilities in San Diego, Vista and Boca Raton, Fla. Cue Health, founded in San Diego in 2010, grew quickly during the coronavirus pandemic through multi-million dollar government and private contracts. The company supplied COVID-19 test kits to the U.S. Department of Defense and big-name organizations like Google and the NBA.