Opko Health shares soared after the company said its BioReference Laboratories division will begin offering a test for the new coronavirus next week. Elmwood Park, New Jersey-based BioReference worked with officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and others to “navigate quickly through the scientific and regulatory issues necessary to make
testing available as soon as possible to the U.S. population,” chairman Jon Cohen said in a statement. Opko shares leapt to an eight-month high following the announcement. The new coronavirus has infected 100,000 people around the world and spread to 18 U.S. states. The deathtoll as of Friday stands at nearly 3,400, including 14 in the U.S.