Chester County has filed a lawsuit in which it seeks the return of the more than $11 million it paid East Whiteland-based Advaite for COVID-19 tests the biotechnology firm failed to deliver within the set time and which never received the federal authorization the company claimed was imminent, writes Michael Rellahan for the Daily Local News.

The RapCov test kits produced by Advaite were originally touted as an easy way to test for antibodies in the blood, but was later found that they deliver false results at inappropriate levels.

The county initially purchased 10,000 of the test kits in March before signing a contract in April to buy a million of the kits for $20 million. The county paid the company $13 million before canceling the contract in July after it found defects in test kits and noting that the firm had failed to deliver 1 million test kits by May 25.

Now, the county is asking for the return of $11.1 million, the difference between the $13 million and the $1.8 million worth of kits the company eventually supplied before the contract was canceled.

Read more about the lawsuit in the Daily Local News here.