A Lehigh Valley company has been awarded a multi-million government contract to improve rapid testing for the Ebola virus.
OraSure Technologies, Inc., based in Bethlehem, announced on Friday that it received the three-year, up to $10.4 million contract from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to advance a rapid Ebola antigen test it had already developed. The company specializes in medical diagnostic tests and specimen collection implements.
The contract will be spread over three years, the company said, and includes an initial $1.8 million, plus options of an additional $8.6 million to fund the advancement of the Ebola test.
The company previously developed FDA-approved rapid tests for hepatitis C and HIV, including an in-home HIV test. The rapid Ebola test uses the same technology as its hepatitis C and HIV tests, according to the company.
The Ebola epidemic has killed more than 11,000 people in West Africa since December 2013, including nearly 4,000 in Sierra Leone, causing concern globally. Liberia, another West African nation hit hard by the epidemic, has officially beaten it, but reports on Friday indicated that Sierra Leone and neighboring Guinea are continuing to battle new cases of the virus.
The benchmark for defeating the Ebola epidemic in an area is a 42-day stretch without a newly diagnosed case.
