OraSure Technologies to Participate in NASDAQ Industry Panel Discussion and Market Close in Observance of World AIDS Day on December 1, 2006
Company Will Also Support Local and Global Campaigns to Encourage Individuals to Learn Their HIV Status
BETHLEHEM, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 30, 2006--OraSure Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:OSUR), the market leader in oral fluid diagnostics, today announced it will participate in the NASDAQ's Stock Market Closing Bell Ceremony and a special industry panel discussion in observance of World AIDS Day on December 1, 2006. In addition, as part of this commemorative day, OraSure will actively support a series of campaigns in the U.S. and in a number of other countries to encourage individuals to learn their HIV status through rapid oral fluid HIV testing.
According to UNAIDS, 39.5 million people worldwide were living with HIV in 2006 - 2.6 million more than in 2004. Worldwide, most people living with HIV are unaware that they are infected.
On both a global and a local level, OraSure is supporting testing campaigns that will urge people to learn their HIV status. In addition to working with several major cities in the U.S., the Company is working with international agencies in a number of countries on five continents by providing educational literature and promotional materials along with donated OraQuick ADVANCE(R) Rapid HIV-1/2 Antibody Test kits to actively encourage individuals to get tested.
"We are pleased to be part of such an important day that brings together people all over the world in the fight against HIV/AIDS," said Douglas Michels, President and CEO of OraSure Technologies. "OraSure is actively encouraging individuals to learn their HIV status through routine HIV testing - a critical step that enables those who are infected with the virus to receive immediate care and reduce the spread of this disease."
On a global level, OraSure is supporting World AIDS Day events in several countries including Kenya, Mexico, The Dominican Republic, The Netherlands, Singapore, Honduras, South Korea and Zambia. In the United States, OraSure is supporting testing events in major cities including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Houston, San Antonio, Phoenix, New Orleans, and Nashville, among others, where clinics and public health sites are implementing rapid oral fluid HIV testing programs with OraQuick ADVANCE(R).
Prior to the NASDAQ Closing Bell Ceremony, Mr. Michels will participate in the 2nd Annual NASDAQ-sponsored industry panel discussion. The panel will focus on new research and technology in the fight against HIV/AIDS including developments in HIV testing. Mr. Michels will be joined by Dr. Hugo Tempelman, the founder of the Ndlovu Medical Centre in South Africa, who will address the critical impact that the availability of rapid oral fluid HIV testing has made in his clinic and the surrounding community.
"Knowing one's HIV status is the first and most important step in the fight against HIV and AIDS, and our work with oral fluid rapid HIV testing has enabled us to identify and bring into care more HIV positive patients," said Dr. Hugo Tempelman. "The OraQuick(R) test represents a simple, safe and accurate solution to overcoming some of the barriers to increased HIV testing that we face each and every day."
The OraQuick ADVANCE(R) Rapid HIV-1/2 Antibody Test, manufactured and sold by OraSure Technologies, is the first and only U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") approved and CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvements Amendments Act of 1988) waived rapid point-of-care test that can detect antibodies to both HIV-1 and HIV-2 in 20 minutes, using oral fluid, finger-stick or venipuncture whole blood and plasma specimens.
December 1, 2006 marks the 18th annual World AIDS Day, a global effort originally started by the World Health Organization in 1988 to highlight the seriousness of this epidemic and focus the world's attention on HIV/AIDS for one day each year.
About OraSure Technologies
OraSure Technologies develops, manufactures and markets oral fluid specimen collection devices using proprietary oral fluid technologies, diagnostic products including immunoassays and other in vitro diagnostic tests, and other medical devices. These products are sold in the United States as well as internationally to various clinical laboratories, hospitals, clinics, community-based organizations and other public health organizations, distributors, government agencies, physicians' offices, and commercial and industrial entities.
OraSure Technologies is the leading supplier of oral-fluid collection devices and assays to the life insurance industry and public health markets for the detection of HIV. In addition, the Company supplies oral-fluid testing solutions for drugs of abuse testing. For more information on the Company, please go to http://www.orasure.com.
CONTACT: OraSure Technologies, Inc.
Investor Contact:
Ronald H. Spair, 610-882-1820
Investorinfo@orasure.com
www.orasure.com
or
Media Contact:
Jennifer Moritz, 917-748-4006
jmoritz@0to5.com
SOURCE: OraSure Technologies, Inc.
