Chembio Diagnostics Announces Agreement with Bio-Manguinhos to Commercialize Point-of-Care Tests for Dengue, Zika and Chikungunya in Brazil

Chembio Diagnostics (Nasdaq:CEMI), a leader in point-of-care (“POC”) diagnostic tests for infectious diseases, today announced the signing of a long-term agreement with Bio-Manguinhos to commercialize Chembio’s POC diagnostic tests for Dengue, Zika and Chikungunya in Brazil.

As quoted in the press release:

Bio-Manguinhos is a unit of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, a government agency responsible for the development and production of vaccines, diagnostics and biopharmaceuticals, primarily to meet the demands of Brazil’s national public health system. Over the last 14 years, Chembio and Bio-Manguinhos have successfully collaborated to develop and commercialize a number of POC diagnostics, including tests for HIV, Syphilis, and Leishmania.

“We are pleased to announce a long-term agreement with Bio-Manguinhos, which is an important step toward commercializing the DPP® Dengue, Zika and Chikungunya tests in Brazil,” stated John Sperzel, Chembio’s Chief Executive Officer. “Despite improved prevention measures to combat the viruses, the risk of incipient epidemic remains in many parts of Brazil. We believe our DPP® assays can become important tools to discriminate among the viruses and identify co-infected patients, as we battle these debilitating and often life-threatening viruses.”

Click here to read the full press release.