New York state plans to pay a pharmaceutical company up to $24 million as it researches tick-borne diseases like Lyme disease.
The state Wadsworth Center Laboratory and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals are teaming up to better detect and treat these illnesses.
Tick-borne diseases, especially Lyme disease, are among the fastest growing infectious diseases in the United States.
The tests for Lyme disease have been mostly unchanged for the past 40 years and sometimes give false negative results. When diagnosed correctly and treated, most Lyme disease patients recover within two weeks.
Over the course of five years, Regeneron will invest up to $48 million in this research and the state will reimburse 50 percent of Regeneron’s research costs.
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Ben Gorenstein