Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) has announced the nationwide availability of a lab-developed, automated molecular diagnostic test to identify if a person is infected with monkeypox.
What Happened: The Secaucus, New Jersey-headquartered company is expecting to have the capacity to conduct approximately 30,000 monkeypox virus tests a week by the end of July. Based on demand, Quest said it will expand the capacity for its monkeypox testing to other advanced laboratories in its national network.
Quest is also validating the orthopoxvirus test from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with the goal of making it available as a second test option to physicians in the first half of August.
"The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the importance of broad access to quality laboratory testing for emerging infectious diseases," said Ruth Clements, vice president and general manager of infectious disease at Quest Diagnostics. "Quest's laboratory developed test complements the CDC test, supporting the public effort with an automated test option for the monkeypox virus."
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What Else Happened: Quest also announced the new test will be available in New York City at a later date, pending the New York Department of Health's review of the laboratory developed test. Last week, New York City was cited as the monkeypox capital of the U.S., with nearly 20% of the nation’s reported cases centered in the city.
There have been no reported deaths from monkeypox. It is easily treatable with vaccines, but they remain in short supply. In New York, the booking system for monkeypox vaccinations crashed on Tuesday, NBC New York reported.
In the U.S., the antiviral drug Jynneos from the Danish biotech company Bavarian Nordic (OTC: BVNRY) was approved in 2015 as a monkeypox treatment.
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