Testmate Health and Intermountain Health have announced a strategic partnership and investment to expand access to rapid molecular tests for sexually transmitted infections in the United States. The collaboration will bring STI diagnostics to decentralized care settings.
Eighty percent of chlamydia and gonorrhea infections go undiagnosed each year. Populations including college students, LGBTQ+ communities, and rural or low-resource clinics face barriers to timely testing and treatment.
“Our partnership and investment in Testmate reflects our commitment to solutions that make care faster, more accessible, and equitable,” said Karen Brownwell, Vice President of Lab Services at Intermountain Health. “When these STI tests become FDA-approved in the U.S., Testmate’s innovative approach to molecular diagnostics will allow us to deliver lab-quality results outside traditional lab settings, directly impacting communities that have historically lacked access to timely testing.”
Testmate’s single-use, reader-free molecular test for Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae delivers results in under 30 minutes without central lab infrastructure. The molecular tests are compatible with both urine and swab samples.
“This partnership and investment empowers people to take control of their sexual and reproductive health without barriers, stigma, or waiting,” said Dr. Siew-Veena Sahi, CEO and Founder of Testmate Health. “By partnering with Intermountain Health, we could scale access to diagnostics in a way that changes outcomes for patients and communities alike.”
The program aims to increase early detection, improve treatment, reduce loss to follow-up, and lower healthcare costs.
Testmate Health is developing molecular diagnostics in sexual and women’s health.
Intermountain Health is a nonprofit system of 34 hospitals, approximately 400 clinics, medical groups with 4,600 employed physicians and advanced care providers, and a health plans division called Select Health with more than one million members. The system is headquartered in Utah with locations in six states.
