ELMWOOD PARK, N.J.,
May 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --
BioReference Laboratories, Inc., an OPKO Health company
(NASDAQ:OPK), today announced the launch of COVID-19 antibody
screening available to New York
City residents in partnership with New York City Health and
Hospital Corporation (NYC Health +
Hospitals). Testing will initially be performed for 140,000
residents at five locations across all five boroughs, with more
testing sites to open in the next several weeks. Test results will
be available through BioReference's Patient Portal, accessible by
smartphone, tablet, desktop or traditional US Mail and become
available within 1-3 days, on average.
"So many New Yorkers are wondering whether they've had the
virus, or if they've exposed their own families," said Mayor
Bill de Blasio during a press
announcement. "While antibody tests are not a fix-all solution,
they will give our communities the knowledge they need to help us
defeat this virus together."
"BioReference is supporting the city in its epidemiology studies
of the presence of COVID-19 throughout large segments of the
New York City population,"
said Jon R. Cohen, M.D., Executive Chairman of BioReference
Laboratories. "For New York, a
city that has been seriously impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,
this type of information will be of great value in helping
healthcare professionals to analyze the presence and progression of
the disease in order to identify at risk populations for possible
early intervention."
Antibody screening is not intended to detect an active COVID-19
infection and individuals experiencing symptoms of an active
COVID-19 infection should not visit these screening sites, which
are not equipped to collect respiratory specimens for molecular
COVID-19 diagnostic testing. Individuals experiencing COVID-19
symptoms are encouraged to contact their healthcare providers.
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 antibody screening test, the availability of the
test and the turnaround time for test results, the expected daily
capacity for testing, and the actual demand for our test, 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.