OraSure Technologies Inc. of Bethlehem commemorated World AIDS Day by ringing the NASDAQ stock market opening bell today at 9:30 a.m.
OraSure, which had $167 million in revenue last year, develops, manufactures and distributes oral fluid diagnostic, collection devices, and other technologies designed to detect or diagnose critical medical conditions.
Its products, which include everything from self-tests for infectious diseases to cryosurgical medical devices, give people the ability to know more about themselves and their health and have the potential to curb the spread of life-threatening diseases.
This year marks the 30th year that the World Health Organization designated a day for World AIDS Day, and since Dec. 1 fell on a Saturday, the company got to ring the NASDAQ bell today, said Stephen Tang, OraSure president and CEO, who attended the event.
“We gathered with a number of our employees, customers, and partners to fight to eradicate HIV/AIDS forever,” Tang said. “It’s both a wonderful celebration of all we’ve done but also a sobering view of what we can do to eradicate HIV/AIDS.”
OraSure’s goal is to eradicate the disease by 2030, he said.
He described today as an important event to commemorate the work the company has been doing not only in the U.S., but around the world with development of its self-testing products, such as its OraQuick HIV test products.
Tang said the event would also help build awareness about the importance of self-testing and knowing one’s status and overall health.
