NJBIZ Conversations: Dave Hickey

As long as the COVID-19 pandemic persists, testing for the virus will remain an important public health tool. And while last year’s flu season was relatively tame because of all the precautions taken by individuals and institutions, this winter could see a resurgence in seasonal illnesses. With more people showing worrisome symptoms, testing will be even more important.

That’s where the Veritor Plus System comes in. It’s a testing device developed by BD, the Franklin Lakes-based company known for years as Becton Dickinson & Co. Veritor can reliably test for COVID-19 and flu types A and B, making it a potentially game-changing technology. BD received and emergency use authorization for Veritor from the Food and Drug Administration in March.

For this edition of NJBIZ Conversations, Editor Jeff Kanige spoke with Dave Hickey, an executive vice president at BD and president of the company’s Life Sciences business. Hickey discussed the continued need for testing in general and the advantages of Veritor in particular.

“The question that you’re trying to answer is, do I have COVID or do I have flu … why do two different tests if you can take one sample from one patient on to one device and in 15 minutes get a result?” he said. “So we’re ready to go, and in fact just this month we have started to see demand for the combination test going out into the market as people get ready.”

To watch the full interview, click on the image below.