NEW YORK – Opko Health's BioReference Laboratories on Thursday announced an agreement with Major League Baseball to provide COVID-19 testing for the 2021 season.
The Elmwood Park, New Jersey-based firm will provide on-site, rapid PCR, point-of-care testing for all 30 teams in MLB using Mesa Biotech's Accula system, which received Emergency Use Authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration a year ago.
Testing begins on Thursday, the start of the 2021 MLB season.
The company is "now supporting all five major professional men's sports leagues in the United States in safely moving forward with their seasons," BioReference Executive Chairman Jon Cohen said in a statement.
On the firm's Q4 financial results conference call in February, it emphasized the continued need for rapid, POC testing for SARS-CoV-2 and noted that the uptake of BioReference's custom POC services has been sharpest in sports leagues.