The fortunes of that Salt Lake City company, Co-Diagnostics, began to rise in April when the Utah-based tech nonprofit Silicon Slopes included Co-Diagnostics as part of a public-private partnership to increase that state's testing capacity and "crush the curve." Then Iowa and Nebraska chose to use Co-Diagnostics' tests, too. The company's share price skyrocketed from below $1 to around $30 at its peak, and Co-Diagnostics began bringing in millions in revenue.

Now, an NPR investigation has uncovered another side to Co-Diagnostics' dramatic growth during the pandemic, including potential legal concerns for company leaders, and persistent questions about its tests' accuracy.