By Stephen Nakrosis

Becton, Dickinson and Co. said Thursday it received a $24 million grant from the U.S. government to scale up U.S. manufacturing capabilities for its BD Veritor Solution for Rapid Detection of SARS-CoV-2.

The investment from the U.S. Department of Defense was made in collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services, the company said.

"The additional capital equipment will bolster domestic production and increase total production capacity by 50%," the medical technology company said, adding, "These investments will enable global production of more than 12 million test kits per month by the end of February 2021."

--Write to Stephen Nakrosis at stephen.nakrosis@wsj.com