HHS' Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response signed a $4.1 million agreement with Hologic to further the development of its blood screening test for Zika.
The test uses the Procleix Zika Virus Assay that is designed to detect Zika virus ribonucleic acid in donated blood plasma. The Food and Drug Administration granted the test investigational new device status in June.
As per the one-year agreement, Hologic will use the funds to advance the development of its Procleix Zika Virus Assay. The companies can extend the agreement up to 18 months and increase the funds to $6.2 million to support the advancement.
This is the second blood screening test for Zika that ASPR is supporting. In April, ASPR announced an agreement supporting a clinical study of a test developed by Roche Molecular Systems.