Public-private partnerships are critical for rapid response to infectious disease threats

Public-private partnerships focused on infectious disease diagnostics have been increasing since the COVID-19 pandemic. These partnerships have resulted in new test development, increased testing capacity and services, technology development, and processes to enable faster collaborative response in the context of an outbreak. This paper explores the importance of public-private partnerships in response to infectious disease public health threats. Collaboration between federal partners and diagnostic test manufacturers has been critical to the COVID-19, mpox, and other responses in the United States, and these partnerships will be critical to future responses. Public-private partnerships pull together the pieces needed to rapidly develop and scale diagnostics necessary for responding to emerging infectious diseases. Developing partnerships during "peace time" further enables rapid action when outbreaks occur.