Chembio receives large order for rapid HIV tests to screen pregnant women in Mexico

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Nov 8 2006

Medford, N.Y.-based Chembio Diagnostics on Monday announced that it has received an order from a Mexican distributor for 990,000 of its rapid HIV test Sure Check HIV 1/2 to screen pregnant women in Mexico, the Long Island Newsday reports (Bernstein, Long Island Newsday, 11/7).

FDA in May approved the company's Sure Check HIV 1/2 and HIV 1/2 Stat-Pak tests for sale to clinical laboratories and hospitals nationwide.

The products detect HIV-1 and HIV-2 antibodies and give results in about 15 minutes (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 5/31).

According to Chembio, the tests will be used as part of a program sponsored by Mexico's Ministry of Health that aims to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission.

Under the program, women who test HIV-positive can receive counseling, and both women and infants can access antiretroviral treatment.

The company is becoming one of the largest distributors of rapid HIV tests in Latin America and has received orders from Bio-Manguinhos -- an affiliate of the Brazilian Ministry of Health -- and the national Chagas screening program in Bolivia, Chembio said in a statement on Tuesday.

Avi Pelossof, Chembio's vice president of sales marketing and business development, in a statement said that the Mexican order is believed to be the largest order of rapid HIV tests in the country.

The Clinton Foundation earlier this year selected Chembio as one of four companies to provide rapid HIV tests in 50 developing countries (Long Island Newsday, 11/7).

This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.