NEW YORK — Quest Diagnostics said after the close of markets Wednesday that it has received a $19.5 million contract from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for testing and data analysis to identify patterns of SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence across 45 states and Puerto Rico.
The CDC is aiming through this work to assess the proportion of the population that has been infected by or vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2.
Quest will use serum specimen remnants collected from individuals for non-COVID-19 testing and analyze them with serological assays to determine whether the individuals have antibodies produced by a recent COVID-19 infection or vaccination.
The contract expands on COVID-19 serology work Quest was previously doing for the CDC, including sequencing samples to look for the presence of variants as part of the SARS-CoV-2 Sequencing for Public Health Emergency Response, Epidemiology and Surveillance (SPHERES) consortium.
"Quest Diagnostics has a powerful combination of quality COVID-19 serological testing, national reach, and robust data analytics to deliver insights to inform public health strategies," Catherine Doherty, senior VP and group executive for clinical franchise solutions and marketing at Quest, said in a statement. "We are proud to bring these assets to the CDC's efforts to track the nation's vulnerability to COVID-19."