Chembio Diagnostics, Inc. announced it was awarded a $3.2 million contract from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the development and clinical validation of a rapid point- of-care (POC) diagnostic test for syphilis. Chembio will undertake to develop a syphilis test and confirm assay based on its Dual Path Platform (DPP) technology and proprietary DPP Micro Reader II. The assay will be intended to simultaneously and separately detect treponemal and nontreponemal IgM and IgG antibodies.

The test should require only 10 uL of fingerstick blood, serum, or plasma and produce results in under 20 minutes. Chembio has previous experience in the field of rapid syphilis diagnostics through its successful development, validation, and commercialization of DPP HIV-Syphilis. The Chembio DPP HIV-Syphilis Assay is a rapid serologic test for the detection of antibodies to HIV and/or the causative agent of syphilis, Treponema pallidum.

Additionally, Chembio has worked to develop a DPP Syphilis Screen and Confirm test, using a CDC licensed reagent with improved liposomal preparation on the nontreponemal test line.