Ekf Diagnostics Share Discussion Threads

[wan] 16/11/2020 12:59

Official press release -

Press release
Two new megalabs to open in 2021 to transform the UK’s diagnostic facilities

16th November 2020

These new labs form a key part of the UK’s national infrastructure to respond to future epidemics as well as adding diagnostic capacity for other critical illnesses, including cancer.

Today the government is announcing the opening of 2 new ‘megalabs’ which will become operational in early 2021. The 2 labs, based in Leamington Spa with a second lab located in Scotland, will each add 300,000 to the UK’s daily testing capacity when operating at full capacity.

Cutting-edge technology made by British manufacturers will be used in both labs, including automation, robotics and consumables. This means more tests will be processed more quickly and at a lower cost, and therefore faster turnaround times for test results.

"These mega labs are future-proofing our national infrastructure to respond to future epidemics and improving care for other diseases, such as cancer. The new labs build on our existing testing network which we created in a matter of months and confirms the UK as a world leader in diagnostics."

"We have already reached our goal of 500,000 testing capacity per day by the end of October, but we have not stopped. Our lab network includes the NHS, academia, the not-for-profit and the private sector and the addition of these new labs will mean another step up in our testing capacity next year."

"Not only will that mean more tests, but it will also mean they can be processed more quickly, and the time it takes to receive results is reduced."

Full release -

[tongosti] 16/11/2020 12:57

No one is saying that testing will stop soon. It is just that the impact of testing on ekf's bottom line has already been fully discounted. That is the point you may want to think about. Mr Market discounts the future as what you are saying is already common knowledge

[wan] 16/11/2020 12:36

Judging by the reaction, anyone would think the cure has unequivocally arrived and is already being delivered on-mass!

I do understand and appreciate the optimism though, but testing simply cannot stop anytime soon.

[tongosti] 16/11/2020 12:21

And all covered for a v quick +5%. Gracias Senor Mercado!

[tongosti] 16/11/2020 12:13

Firtashia - care to share your views? LOL

[tongosti] 16/11/2020 12:09

Don't shoot the messenger fellas but it is very telling the share price reaction following the latest on the vaccine front from Moderna.What the bulls talk about it past history - it WAS in the price. Gone SHORT

[wan] 16/11/2020 10:14

Edit - In other words, the emphasis is that it should be as safe as possible!

[wan] 16/11/2020 10:10

MG1982 - A total of 23 commercial reagents designed for virus inactivation, clinical sample transportation and nucleic acid extraction were assessed by PHE for their ability to inactivate SARS-CoV-2 -

The novel viral transport media PrimeStore® MTM (Molecular Transport Medium) has been successfully evaluated for effective SARS-CoV-2 inactivation in a new study published by Public Health England (PHE) [1]. To work safely with live SARS-CoV-2 samples requires the use of high-containment laboratories. However, after inactivation SARS-CoV-2 material can be handled at a lower containment level, allowing more laboratories to undertake testing and thereby increasing COVID-19 testing capacity.

The PHE study [1] evaluated numerous commercially available reagents and laboratory formulations commonly used for viral inactivation protocols by public health agencies and research laboratories globally. All the reagents tested have been used during the current COVID-19 pandemic for sample transportation and subsequent molecular processing. A total of 23 commercial reagents designed for virus inactivation, clinical sample transportation and nucleic acid extraction were assessed by PHE for their ability to inactivate SARS-CoV-2.

The study used TCID50 and blind passage techniques to test for any infectious virus still recoverable from all samples treated with the inactivation reagents. Notably, the study showed that PrimeStore MTM was the only commercially available transport reagent from the many tested from which no residual virus was detectable by either TCID50 or by the passaging of treated purified sample. This demonstrates the efficacy and safety of PrimeStore MTM in inactivating live SARS-CoV-2 samples whilst maintaining the ability to detect the target viral RNA.


That's still not conclusive, for instance it refers to a "methodology" validated by PHE. For me though, it does indicate how diagnostic manufacturers are also thinking about testing use beyond laboratory environments. In other words, the emphasis is that it should be as safe as possible!

[firtashia] 16/11/2020 10:07

wan- post 977- yes the market is forward looking, but the future is unpredictable. Some time the market is right, and sometime its not. That's why traders are only right about 50% of the time- it is because of their method of execution they are able to make big money.
Good article here about this subject from billionaire asset manager Howard Marks.

[tongosti] 16/11/2020 09:58

Good points but you may want to bear in mind the a huge part of CEO's JD is being a great cheerleader. When was the last time you heard a CEO saying we deserve to be hammered by the market?!Like I have said before - I am totally agnostic which side of the trade I will be next and am frequently looking for the path of least resistance as that is how I can make a few shekels. I am out at the moment (unlike most I always leave buy/sell posts in real time, not after the fact) for reasons I have explained beforehand. Naturally, if the next trading opp will be a buy I will be happy to do so. Equally so with a sell.

[mg1982] 16/11/2020 09:55

Wan and others,
If NCYT are suggesting that it's a company which has a "viral inactivation methodology validated by Public Health England for potential use outside of laboratory environments"

Well let's eliminate who it could be? Who are the competitors for this for EKF /longhorn?

[wan] 16/11/2020 09:47

I agree that the market (investors) is a forward-looking mechanism , but that doesn't sit well with the comments from EKF's CEO regarding the degree of pullback in the price as being ludicrous, implying that some investors are more reactive than forward-looking!

Neither does it sit well with company and government investments to facilitate increased testing capacity.

Regarding vaccines, there is so much unknown details that the market may yet be wrong! For instance, BioNTech co-founder thinks that the vaccine 'might' reduce transmission -

"I'm very confident that transmission between people will be reduced by such a highly effective vaccine - maybe not 90% but maybe 50%"

So whilst that is a very welcome reduction, it doesn't mean that testing will no long be required, hence the continued investment in building 'strategic' diagnostic testing capacity. Such strategic testing capabilities and capacity goes hand-in-hand with strategic stock of reagents and samples collection media, which even if not used, has a shelf-life and will thus need to be routinely changed.

[tongosti] 16/11/2020 09:17

That's challenging - which is a good start - but not challenging enough. The real challenging view is that Mr Market discounts things 12-18 months in advance and all the price appreciation that you have got over the last few months (which is nothing short of stunning) has already done the trick. In other words, the world - until the practical arrival of the vaccine - has already been discounted and is already in the price. Hence the hiccup.

[wan] 16/11/2020 08:49

The challenging view atm is that vaccines will ride to the rescue by December. In my view, the reality is quite different, but for now that's what the market appears to think.

[wan] 16/11/2020 08:45

The market remains unconvinced about ATM and generally the sustainability of testing (all testing). Time will tell. In the meantime, a glance across the pond where unfortunately the surge in coronavirus infections could challenge current testing capacity.

[wan] 16/11/2020 08:01

Thanks for the heads-up LOO.

NCYT excerpt -

Launch of PROmate™

PROmate™ is a new CE Mark approved product designed to further improve the workflow efficiency of COVID-19 testing when used in combination with the Company’s q16 and q32 instruments. The reagents involved in the Company’s COVID-19 RNA extraction and PCR test products have been repackaged, with some reagents also freeze-dried, to reduce the amount of consumables and the number of steps required, thereby reducing operator complexity and improving cycle times. In addition, PROmate™ uses a viral inactivation methodology validated by Public Health England for potential use outside of laboratory environments.
(END)

It is the type of scenario I envisaged (and there are more) and -

Given that Longhorns CSO stated that the new ATM product enhances antigen testing, it's why I posed the following question in my post further above - What was it that prompted Longhorns President to suggest that their ingredients can enable certain rapid/POC tests, and why their CSO suggested that the new ATM product was surely set to be a block-buster, and which fits well with the growth trajectory in antigen testing currently underway?

Whether it is PrimeStore MTM, ATM or indeed another, it demonstrates the interest from diagnostic test manufactures.

[lastoneout] 16/11/2020 07:32

The fact that the UK Govt are taking diagnostics in general very seriously can only be good for EKF

[lastoneout] 16/11/2020 07:29

Just looking at NCYT RNS this morning and note this line "In addition, PROmate™ uses a viral inactivation methodology validated by Public Health England for potential use outside of laboratory environments"Could this be PrimeStore MTM?

[wan] 15/11/2020 05:26

That's indeed correct James regarding PCR testing, and a point I have made numerous times (including in my post above), with antigen testing used to mass-screen populations and with PCR testing remaining a very important pillar of the overall testing process.

Frequent antigen testing (probably twice a week in institutions, or even at home) is likely to pick up infectious asymptomatic/pre-symptomatic individuals so that they can start the isolation process as early as possible and then undertake a PCR test to confirm. In this way, antigen testing could also assist PCR testing capacity to be utilised more effectively (for both symptomatic and asymptomatic testing). And perhaps also enabling PCR testing resources to be used for pooled testing, which can in turn lead to targeted individual PCR testing.

Also, to be clear regarding low cost markets in my post above, I am 'predominantly' referring to a lateral flow antigen test version in those markets/regions i.e. a low-cost product.

A number of studies have now indicated that asymptomatic persons are playing a major role in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2. And that symptom-based screening alone failed to detect a high proportion of infectious cases and was not enough to control transmission. In the following recent study of Covid-19 testing, symptom monitoring missed nearly all cases of infection, suggesting regular, widespread surveillance testing is needed for both asymptomatic and symptomatic people to limit transmissions and get the pandemic under control -

Wall Street Journal (11/11/20)
Asymptomatic COVID-19 cases show need for wider surveillance testing, study suggests

Andrew Letizia, MD, one of the lead authors of the study and an infectious-disease expert at the Naval Medical Research Center, said: "This shows that even in the setting of very strictly enforced public-health measures put in place to mitigate spread, if you want to find the individuals who are infected with SARS-CoV-2, you really have to augment those public-health mitigation strategies with additional surveillance testing." Public-health experts say this involves testing people on a regular basis, whether they have symptoms or not. This can be done by testing people one by one, or through pooled testing, where several patient samples can be screened using a single test.


Ultimately, there is clear evidence of SARS-CoV-2 transmission from asymptomatic/pre-symptomatic persons, and the eventual need to relax social distancing argues for vastly expanded SARS-CoV-2 testing to include asymptomatic individuals. Hence, developed markets are now embarking on throwing 'everything' at mass-screening/surveillance testing, and that includes continuing to rely on PCR testing!

[james188] 14/11/2020 19:17

I think that anyone who wants to have a clear understanding of the current state of play between the various COVID-19 tests should listen in to the excellent InvestorMeetCompany presentation given by SourceBio last Thursday (you can sign up for free).

The key point that is made in relation to COVID-19 tests is that - at the moment at least - all the faster tests (rapid point of care/moonshot etc) are essentially a first stage screening test and the gold standard PCR test is then required as a follow up. So, the Longhorn Vaccine offerings should be very well placed for quite some time - aside from much wider long term application for inevitable new viruses.