OPKO Health's BioReference Laboratories to Provide COVID-19 Testing for National Basketball Association Players and Employees

ELMWOOD PARK, N.J., July 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- BioReference Laboratories, Inc., an OPKO Health company (NASDAQ:OPK), will provide COVID-19 testing oversight for the National Basketball Association's (NBA) players and referees, as well as team and league staff participating in the NBA's season restart in Orlando.

Under the agreement with the NBA, BioReference will provide COVID-19 testing, which includes PCR diagnostics, rapid diagnostics and antibody testing.

The NBA and BioReference collaborated on testing protocols to provide the safest possible environment to restart the 2019-20 NBA season, going to extraordinary lengths to understand both the threats of the virus and the best means to control its spread. Testing protocols were established in consultation with infectious disease experts to ensure the safety of players and employees.

"Collaborating with the National Basketball Association throughout the COVID-19 pandemic has been a privilege for BioReference," said Jon R. Cohen, M.D., Executive Chairman of BioReference Laboratories. "The extensive, detailed and systematic protocols put in place by the NBA leadership highlights the priority they are placing on the overall safety of the NBA players, referees and other team and league staff, as well as their families. Similar to testing for employers trying to get their employees back to work, professional sports entertainment is another integral part of the everyday American experience. We are proud to be part of the solution that can help the nation return to normal."

For more information, visit https://www.bioreference.com/coronavirus/employers-and-government-authorities/.    

About BioReference Laboratories, Inc.
BioReference provides comprehensive testing to physicians, clinics, hospitals, employers, government units, correctional institutions and medical groups.  BioReference has been working expeditiously to develop and offer test services that will yield high quality and accurate results, including a molecular test for helping with COVID-19 diagnosis and a serology test to help indicate possible COVID-19 exposure. The company is in network with the five largest health plans in the United States, operates a network of 11 laboratory locations, and is backed by a medical staff of more than 120 M.D., Ph.D. and other professional level clinicians and scientists.  With a leading position in the areas of genetics, women's health, maternal fetal medicine, oncology and urology, BioReference and its specialty laboratories, GenPath and GeneDx, are advancing the course of modern medicine.  For more information, visit www.bioreference.com.

About OPKO Health, Inc.
OPKO is a multinational biopharmaceutical and diagnostics company that seeks to establish industry-leading positions in large, rapidly growing markets by leveraging its discovery, development, and commercialization expertise and novel and proprietary technologies. For more information, visit www.opko.com.

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 antibody screening test, the availability of the test and the role and value of the information provided and its impact on decisions relative to the safety of employees and customers, 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