ELMWOOD PARK, N.J., March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- BioReference Laboratories, Inc., an OPKO Health company (NASDAQ: OPK), today announced it will offer a test for the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), a contagious virus that causes respiratory infection and has shown evidence of human-to-human transmission. BioReference is expecting to receive specimens for testing, and begin to provide testing next week. With an extensive network of patient service centers and a national logistic network, BioReference will provide expanded access to a COVID-19 testing across the United States.

"COVID-19 testing is imperative in aiding front-line healthcare professionals and public health authorities to identify infected patients more quickly, limit the spread of infection and promote earlier diagnosis and treatment," said Jon R. Cohen, M.D., Executive Chairman of BioReference. "We want to specifically recognize how engaged and responsive HHS, the CDC and the FDA have been in helping us navigate quickly through the scientific and regulatory issues necessary to make testing available as soon as possible to the U.S. population."

BioReference has collaborated with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization and other public health agencies to help identify and develop diagnostic tests for emerging infectious diseases.

For more information about BioReference Laboratories and coronavirus testing options, please visit 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 10 laboratory locations, and is backed by a medical staff of more than 160 MD, PhD and other professional level clinicians and scientists. For more information, visit www.bioreference.com.

About OPKO Health

OPKO Health is a diversified healthcare company. In diagnostics, its BioReference Laboratories is one of the nation's largest full-service clinical laboratories; GeneDx is a rapidly growing genetic testing business; the 4Kscore® test is used to assess a patient's individual risk for aggressive prostate cancer following an elevated PSA and to help decide about next steps such as prostate biopsy; Claros® 1 is a point-of-care diagnostics platform with a total PSA test approved by the FDA. In our pharmaceutical pipeline, RAYALDEE is our first pharmaceutical product to be marketed. OPK88003, a once-weekly oxyntomodulin for type 2 diabetes and obesity - reported positive data from a Phase 2 clinical trial. It's among a new class of GLP-1/glucagon receptor dual agonists. OPK88004, a SARM (selective androgen receptor modulator) is currently being studied for various potential indications. The Company's most advanced product utilizing its CTP technology, a once-weekly human growth hormone for injection, successfully met its primary endpoint and key secondary endpoints in a Phase 3 study and is partnered with Pfizer. OPKO also has research, development, production and distribution facilities abroad.

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 plans to begin testing for COVID-19 and the timing of and availability of the 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 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