OraSure Working to End AIDS on a Global Scale
BETHLEHEM, Pa., Nov. 29, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — OraSure Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: OSUR), a leader in point of care diagnostic tests and specimen collection devices, today announced that Stephen S. Tang, Ph.D., President and CEO, will ring the NASDAQ stock market opening bell on Monday, December 3, 2018 in honor of World AIDS Day and the work OraSure is doing to end AIDS on a global scale. The bell ringing will take place at 9:15 am EST.
“On the 30th anniversary of World AIDS Day, I am reminded of how far we’ve come in the fight against HIV, yet there is much more work to be done,” says Tang. “This year’s World AIDS Day theme, ‘Know Your Status’ reflects the reality that, according to the World Health Organization, one in four individuals with HIV does not know they are infected. We must change the awareness paradigm in order to reverse the course of this disease. Key to fighting the disease is knowing your status through frequent testing.”
In honor of World AIDS Day, on November 30th, Community Healthcare Network (CHN), one of the largest networks of federally qualified health centers in New York City, will conduct a large-scale testing event utilizing OraSure Technologies’ HIV tests across its 15 health centers and mobile units around the city. By administering HIV tests to patients and the general public, CHN continues its commitment to providing underserved communities with access to quality care.
Domestically and internationally, OraSure employees are participating in testing efforts alongside their customers. OraSure is also providing thousands of its HIV testing devices to groups sponsoring awareness and testing events across Africa, Asia and Europe.
For World AIDS Day and for the entire month of December, OraSure will use a combination of social influencers and digital media to reach at-risk consumers with a universal and inclusive testing outreach program entitled “Together We Test”.
About Knowing Power
Tang continues, “OraQuick®, has been a game-changer not only here in the United States, but for millions who live in places like Sub-Sahara Africa where HIV and AIDS are still a major concern. In 2017 we teamed up with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to offer affordable HIV Self-Testing to over 50 developing nations. We are also dedicated to augmenting the fight through our ‘Knowing Power’ global initiative, which allocates funds from sales of OraQuick to support new community testing pilot programs.”
The Knowing Power initiative was designed to get testing kits directly into the hands of the previously untested. For every OraQuick® test purchased between July 24 and December 1, 2018, OraSure is donating a portion of the sale to establish a ‘bank’ of OraQuick test devices. Both non-governmental organizations and community groups have been engaged to help distribute these kits into areas and validation programs that are squarely aimed at ending the AIDS epidemic.
About OraSure Technologies HIV Tests
OraQuick ADVANCE® Rapid HIV-1/2 Antibody Test is the first FDA approved, CLIA-waived, rapid point-of-care test that can detect antibodies to both HIV-1 and HIV-2 with greater than 99% accuracy in as little as 20 minutes, using an oral fluid, finger-stick or venipuncture whole blood, or plasma sample.
The OraQuick® In-Home HIV Test is the first and only oral fluid rapid OTC HIV test approved in the U.S. The OraQuick® In-Home HIV Test can detect antibodies to both HIV-1 and HIV-2 with an oral swab, providing a confidential in-home testing option with results in as little as 20 minutes. It is the first rapid diagnostic test for any infectious disease that has been approved by the FDA for sale over the counter.
The OraQuick® HIV Self-Test (HIVST) is a rapid, point-of-care test that allows an individual to detect antibodies to both HIV-1 and HIV-2 with a simple oral swab and provides a result in as little as 20 minutes in the privacy of an individual’s home, at outreach testing settings, in the pharmacy or at community based screening events. Based on the same OraQuick® platform that is used for the FDA-approved OraQuick In-Home HIV Test and the WHO Prequalified OraQuick Rapid HIV-1/2 Antibody Test used by health care professionals worldwide, the platform has been used to test millions.
About OraSure Technologies
OraSure Technologies is a leader in the development, manufacture and distribution of point-of-care diagnostic and collection devices and other technologies designed to detect or diagnose critical medical conditions. Its first-to-market, innovative products include rapid tests for the detection of antibodies to HIV and HCV on the OraQuick® platform, oral fluid sample collection, stabilization and preparation products for molecular diagnostic applications, and oral fluid laboratory tests for detecting various drugs of abuse. OraSure’s portfolio of products is sold globally to various clinical laboratories, hospitals, clinics, community-based organizations and other public health organizations, research and academic institutions, distributors, government agencies, physicians’ offices, commercial and industrial entities and consumers. The Company’s products enable healthcare providers to deliver critical information to patients, empowering them to make decisions to improve and protect their health. For more information on OraSure Technologies, please visit www.orasure.com.
Following the bell ringing, OraSure Technologies President and CEO, Stephen S. Tang, Ph.D., will be interviewed on Facebook Live by the NASDAQ team. Check out Facebook.com/Nasdaq to watch.
Media Contact:
Jeanne Mell
Vice President, Corporate Communications
P: 610.882.1820
E: [email protected]
