South Florida Business Journal
BioReference Laboratories has added Miami to the list of regions where it is providing coronavirus testing and analysis.
The company, a subsidiary of Miami-based Opko Health (Nasdaq: OPK), will partner with the city on an appointment-only drive-thru testing site, in addition to accepting specimens from existing testing sites in the area to confirm whether or not patients have been infected with the coronavirus, formally known as COVID-19.
BioReference said Tuesday it will test specimens collected from testing centers throughout South Florida through a collaboration with Larkin Community Hospital.
“BioReference continues to prioritize expanding public access to COVID-19 testing across the nation,” said Jon R. Cohen, executive chairman of BioReference Laboratories and Senior VP of Opko Health. “The importance of high-quality, reliable, scalable laboratory tests available is a critical part of the response in the effort to contain COVID-19.”
On March 13, the company accepted its first coronavirus specimens from health care providers to test for coronavirus. Since then, it has expanded its capacity and announced partnerships with New York, Detroit and New Jersey to provide its coronavirus testing services.
When it first launched, BioReference’s labs could process about 1,000 to 2,000 tests per day. The company will eventually ramp up to process 10,000 tests per day, Cohen said.
BioReference Labs runs about 40,000 tests daily for an array of diseases. Acquired by Opko in 2015, the company has labs in New Jersey, Texas and Melbourne.
Click here for original post on South Florida Business Journal
