Point-of-care diagnostics company Chembio Diagnostic Systems Inc. (CEMI:NASDAQ) which specializes in infectious diseases, yesterday announced "the U.S. launch of the rapid DPP COVID-19 serological point-of-care test for the detection of IgM and IgG antibodies." The company reported that the test results can be obtained in as little as 15 minutes from a simple finger stick that utilizes the Chembio MicroReader 1 and MicroReader 2 analyzers that are produced by Chembio Germany. The firm noted that the ability of its Dual Path Platform (DPP®) to provide numerical results will assist clinicians in determining both current and past COVID-19 virus exposure. Chembio stated that the DPP platform will also help in monitoring infection progression and avoiding human interpretation errors from visual readings.
The company explained that "the DPP COVID-19 test detects antibodies in the blood that are produced by the body in response to a novel coronavirus infection and that numerical readings of the IgM and IgG antibodies have the ability to assist clinicians in determining patients who have been exposed to the novel coronavirus, even among patients who exhibit mild to no symptoms."
The company's CEO Richard Eberly commented, "The results and data from our DPP COVID-19 test can help improve clinical outcomes through the management of individual patients by enabling clinicians to understand the likelihood of past and present infection and to manage populations as a whole as a surveillance test...Our measured approach has positioned us to offer a viable and sustainable long-term solution for clinicians. We expect to begin shipping product in April 2020, and we will continue to work with our partner LumiraDx to provide DPP COVID-19 tests with the ability to scale based upon market demand."
Gail S. Page, director at Chembio Diagnostics, added, "We are excited that, through diligent collaboration with the FDA, our test will be distributed as authorized by the FDA Notification process under the public health emergency guidance issued on March 16, 2020...This is another example of Chembio's ability to respond in an expeditious manner to global pandemics with differentiated solutions, as demonstrated previously with Zika and Ebola."
Chembio Diagnostics is a point-of-care diagnostics company based in Hauppage on Long Island, N.Y., that concentrates its efforts on detecting and diagnosing infectious diseases. The firm noted that its novel DPP technology has the potential to serve a broad range of market applications beyond infectious disease and has several additional applications in active development with collaboration partners. The company advised that its products are sold worldwide both directly and through distributors to hospitals, clinics, doctors offices, clinical labs, public health organizations, government agencies and consumers.
Chembio Diagnostics started off the day with a market capitalization of around $90.8 million with approximately 17.73 million shares outstanding. CEMI shares opened 26% higher today at $6.46 (+$1.34, +26.17%) over yesterday's $5.12 closing price and climbed to a new 52-week high price this morning of $8.00. The stock has traded today between $6.36 and $8.00 per share and is currently trading at $7.23 (+$2.11, +41.21%).
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