ELMWOOD PARK, N.J.,
April 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --
BioReference Laboratories, Inc., an OPKO Health company
(NASDAQ:OPK), announced that beginning today it will offer antibody
blood tests to detect an immune response after infection with the
COVID-19 virus. Antibody testing and molecular diagnostic testing
for COVID-19 are available to healthcare providers nationwide. In
addition, under an agreement with New
York State, BioReference will begin testing thousands of
people per day for COVID-19 antibodies, starting today with MTA
employees.
BioReference began antibody testing last week with a focus on
testing its employees. This week, BioReference launches COVID-19
antibody testing nationwide and is working expeditiously to be able
to test 400,000 patients per day by mid-May.
"Testing for antibodies is the next logical step to help
employers and employees countrywide make decisions as to how to
move forward with their jobs and personal lives," said Jon R.
Cohen, M.D., Executive Chairman of BioReference Laboratories. "We
are proud to partner with New York
State to identify employees' antibody levels and areas of
the population with varying levels of antibodies, types of
populations that may be at a higher risk of infection, individuals
who may be possible plasma donors of convalescent serum and data
that can be helpful when deciding on how to roll out a vaccine when
it becomes available."
BioReference is offering a semi-quantitative immunoassay that
measures SARS-CoV-2 specific antibody levels to determine the
patient's immune response after COVID-19 infection. While antibody
tests are helpful to understand if an individual has developed
antibodies and a potential immune response, antibody testing should
not be used as the sole basis to diagnose or exclude infection.
Test results should be interpreted in connection with other
factors, such as symptoms and history. Results signify that
antibodies are present, but protective immunity based on these
results has yet to be established in clinical trials.
Blood antibody tests offered by BioReference are performed on
high-throughput instruments, have been validated for sensitivity
and specificity, have been reviewed by appropriate state
Departments of Health and are registered with the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration (FDA).
Specimens will be accepted from physician offices, hospitals,
other clinic settings and officially sanctioned screening
programs.
For more information,
visit https://www.bioreference.com/coronavirus.
About BioReference Laboratories, Inc.
BioReference provides comprehensive testing to physicians, clinics,
hospitals, employers, government units, correctional institutions
and medical groups. The company is in network with the five largest
health plans in the United
States, operates a network of 11 laboratory locations, and
is backed by a medical staff of more than 120 MD, PhD and other
professional level clinicians and scientists. For more information,
visit www.bioreference.com.
About OPKO Health
OPKO Health, Inc., is a
multinational biopharmaceutical and diagnostics company that seeks
to establish industry leading positions in large, rapidly growing
markets by leveraging its discovery, development and
commercialization expertise and novel and proprietary technologies.
For more information, visit www.opko.com.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements," as
that term is defined under the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995 (PSLRA), which statements may be identified by words
such as "expects," "plans," "projects," "will," "may,"
"anticipates," "believes," "should," "intends," "estimates," and
other words of similar meaning, including statements regarding
BioReference's testing for COVID-19 and the timing of and
availability of the test, the expected daily capacity for testing,
the ability to expand our test capacity to 400,000 tests per day,
our ability to increase COVID 19 testing availability nationwide,
as well as the timeline for doing so, the actual demand for our
test, the number of New York
residents which may be tested under the terms of the agreement with
New York State, the viability,
sensitivity, specificity and utility of our antibody test and
whether a positive antibody test indicates any immunity against
re-infection, as well as other non-historical statements about our
expectations, beliefs or intentions regarding our business,
technologies and products, financial condition, strategies or
prospects. Many factors could cause our actual activities or
results to differ materially from the activities and results
anticipated in forward-looking statements. These factors include
those described in the OPKO Health, Inc. Annual Reports on Form
10-K filed and to be filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission and in its other filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. In addition, forward-looking statements may
also be adversely affected by equipment and reagent shortages,
general market factors, competitive product development, product
availability, federal and state regulations and legislation, the
regulatory process for new products and indications, manufacturing
issues that may arise, patent positions and litigation, among other
factors. The forward-looking statements contained in this press
release speak only as of the date the statements were made, and we
do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking
statements. We intend that all forward-looking statements be
subject to the safe-harbor provisions of the PSLRA.
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SOURCE BioReference Laboratories, Inc.