Media Coverage

Laboratory operator Quest Diagnostics Inc beat estimates for quarterly profit on Wednesday, as people returned for regular checkups and tests that were delayed during a large part of the COVID-19 pandemic. Non-COVID testing at companies such as Quest and rival Labcorp was hit as people delayed routine health check-ups following pandemic-led lockdowns, but that demand has now started to normalize while COVID testing sales have fallen.

An analysis of 462 million lipid test results has shown mean total cholesterol levels exceed the target in seven of the 17 studied countries. Writing in the European Heart Journal, members of the Global Diagnostics Network (GDN) describe the evaluation of lipid test data generated by nine clinical laboratories working in 17 countries. Seth Martin, lead author of the study and professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, discussed the analysis and the potential implications of its findings in a statement from Quest Diagnostics, the company that leads the GDN.

Quest Diagnostics said Thursday that women seeking to start or expand a family can now access the Proov Confirm PdG home collection kit for assessing fertility through questhealth.com. The Proov Confirm PdG test is the first and only FDA-cleared PdG (progesterone metabolite) home test kit to confirm successful ovulation. Through a collaboration between Secaucus-based Quest and Proov, the test is the first women’s health test from a third-party manufacturer available through questhealth.com.

For a decade now, the world has had highly effective medications for hepatitis C infections. In the United States, they’ve mostly been sitting on the shelf, according to a new study. A study published Thursday in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report reveals how deep the disparities in access to hepatitis C therapies have become. Using testing data from Quest Diagnostics, researchers were able to track the fates of 1 million Americans diagnosed with hepatitis C infections in the decade since the most effective drugs were introduced. Overall, just 1 in 3 were cured over that time period.

Quest Diagnostics has finalized its previously announced acquisition of Baltimore-based Haystack Oncology, the Secaucus clinical laboratory company said June 21. Under the terms of the deal unveiled April 27, Quest said it would pay Haystack $300 million in cash at closing, net of cash acquired, and up to an additional $150 million based on future performance milestones.