NEW YORK (360Dx) – Chembio Diagnostics said today that it has received a commitment from Bio-Manguinhos for the purchase of $8.5 million worth of materials related to its HIV and Leishmania point-of-care immunoassays.
Under the terms of the deal, Bio-Manguinhos — a subsidiary of Brazil's Oswaldo Cruz Foundation responsible for the development and production of vaccines, reagents, and biopharmaceuticals for public health use — agreed to purchase test components and intermediate product for the production of Chembio's DPP HIV and Leishmania assays, which will be supplied to the Brazilian Ministry of Health. The sales are expected to occur in 2018.
"We are appreciative that Brazil's Ministry of Health is continuing to purchase the high-quality DPP HIV assays and DPP Leishmania assays from Bio-Manguinhos for the country's testing programs," Chembio CEO John Sperzel said in a statement. "The use of rapid POC diagnostic tests, along with prevention and treatment, are essential elements of Brazil's response to HIV and Leishmaniosis incidence."
Chembio has been working for a number of years with Bio-Manguinhos, and earlier this year announced that it had received a $5.8 million order from the organization for DPP HIV assay test components and intermediate product. Chembio noted that it received payments of $4.2 million during the fourth quarter related to accounts receivable balances from Bio-Manguinhos for products previously sold and delivered.