Ekf Diagnostics Share Discussion Threads

[wan] 29/1/2024 09:41

Good to learn from todays Trading Update that growth in Point of Care and BHB sales has proven resilient in 2023, and that growth is predictable in 2024 too.

With EKF's existing fermentation facility offering development and tech transfer, and with the new facility offering a significant increase in relatively scarce capacity via state-of-the-art fermenters, fermentation suites, and downstream processing, EKF are well placed to meet the growing demand for novel ingredients with product-enhancing properties, and the need for security of supply.

Therefore, with the new capacity in fermentation coming on stream, and with purchase orders received, and the continuation of the onboarding of customers for the new precision fermentation, it is very encouraging, as precision fermentation is set to provide an important platform for sustainable long-term growth.

[wan] 25/1/2024 16:22

Quiet, but I note the following -

EKF Diagnostics has just launched the Lactate Scout Sport, now available exclusively at HaB Direct! This device is here to take your performance monitoring to the next level, replacing the Lactate Scout 4.

Why Lactate Scout Sport?

📈 Enhanced Accuracy: Get precise lactate measurements for optimal training and recovery.
💡 Innovative Features: Comes with advanced capabilities tailored for athletes and coaches.
📱 User-Friendly: Effortless to use with a sleek, modern interface.

Whether you're a professional athlete, coach, or a fitness enthusiast, the Lactate Scout Sport is your go-to tool for peak performance. Get yours today and elevate your training regime! Exclusively at HaB direct for UK customers.

[wan] 11/1/2024 09:45

The J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference closes today -
The 42nd Annual Healthcare Conference will take place on January 8-11, 2024 in San Francisco, CA.
This premier conference is the largest and most informative health care investment symposium in the industry which connects global industry leaders, emerging fast-growth companies, innovative technology creators and members of the investment community.

Thus far, and from what I am reading, there is a strong belief and anticipation of an improvement in the market for many diagnostics and life sciences companies in 2024, with a good number forecasting a combination of organic expansion, collaborations, plus M & A opportunities.

Overall, there appears to be a lot of confidence that the market is going to turn around and get back to what is a more normal phase of growth.


JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, Day 1: Exact Sciences, Veracyte, NeoGenomics, Guardant Health, Qiagen
Jan 09, 2024

SAN FRANCISCO – The 42nd annual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference kicked off on Monday with a bolus of companies in the diagnostics and genomics tools market updating their businesses and previewing what may be coming down the pike.

Below are brief reports on individual presentations from the conference.


JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, Day 2: Danaher, Abbott, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Revvity, More
Jan 10, 2024

SAN FRANCISCO – It was another busy day at the 42nd annual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference as diagnostics and genomics tools firms updated investors about their operations.

Below are brief reports on individual presentations from the conference.

[wan] 11/1/2024 08:35

I note todays RNS.

And a recent new product launch that's worthy of note too-

Jan 10 2024
Innovative new SmartLid™
Through an exclusive new partnership with ProtonDx, Alpha Laboratories proudly announces the launch of SmartLid™, a revolutionary magnetic key and lid system that streamlines the nucleic acid extraction process. The ground-breaking solution is designed for rapid and efficient viral DNA/RNA extraction and simplifies the three crucial sample extraction steps - Lysis, Wash, and Elution - offering a smarter way to handle nucleic acids in molecular biology applications. With its innovative features, SmartLid sets a new benchmark in the field, offering scientists and researchers a smarter, faster, and eco-conscious solution for nucleic acid extraction.

Full details -

For research use only (RUO)-

Recall that ProntonDx worked with EKF in the development of a RUO product -

"EKF Diagnostics have been instrumental in our development as a company. They worked above and beyond their remit to ensure the successful completion of our pivotal milestones. They worked closely with our team to provide solutions and guidance navigating the tricky start-up landscape, whilst providing top-tier products.

In the recent months, they have helped us produce an RUO product for our first client, working to very time-sensitive deadlines on short notice to ensure we made it to the finish line.

[wan] 03/1/2024 09:26

Most will already know that EKF's new contract fermentation facility (and the existing one in Elkhart) is located in Indiana in the US. Indianapolis, 2 hours from South Bend, has recently been designated a Regional Tech Hub, and some readers may therefore find that the following provides good background and an interesting read -

Why Indiana?
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed America’s supply chain vulnerability and reliance on the off-shore manufacturing of life sciences products. Indiana is home to pioneers in human, plant, and animal health – all of which are essential to the nation’s ability to care for and feed its people. Future advances in each of these critical sectors will center on the core sciences found in biological product development – the process of building new biomolecular products and the further development of nascent modalities. These interrelated pathways must innovate in parallel. Currently, the research to rapidly advance manufacturing capability is too reliant on an ecosystem of decentralized innovation.

With a focused investment in the Indiana biotechnology manufacturing ecosystem, the Economic Development Administration can tether together disconnected capabilities to expedite the creation of a sector-agnostic biotechnology manufacturing hub in the densest advanced manufacturing state in the nation on a per capita basis. The central concentration of global behemoths like Eli Lilly, Corteva, and Elanco, alongside world-class R1 research institutes like Indiana University, Purdue University, and the University of Notre Dame, make Indiana a prime location to spur next-generation innovation and mitigate the national security risks currently posed by the United States’ over-reliance on off-shore life sciences manufacturing.


Indiana leads the nation in pharmaceutical exports

Indiana is the only state in the nation to manufacture all three COVID-19 vaccines

One of the top three states in exports for all life sciences products – pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and agbiosciences — for more than a decade

[hopeful holder] 30/12/2023 14:27

This may be a good momentum play once it starts to move. They have taken the hit for the delays so it's reasonable to presume the benefits are there. I understand one firm order has been placed for enzymes but I have no idea of the size or value of that order.

[wan] 30/12/2023 09:21

I would welcome an update too, but I patiently await the time when EKF can update us on the new fermentation facility and any new contracts. In the interim of that, it's not hard to find very strong evidence about the high level of demand for specialised precision fermentation products.

With the shares trading at around 2.6 x 2023 forecast revenues, and strictly in my view, there is nothing factored in the share price for revenue growth and margin improvements from the core business in 2024, which is expected to benefit from a number of initiatives concluding by the end of year (2023) and will improve productivity, margins and EKF's competitive advantage.

In my opinion, likewise there is nothing factored into the share price for any revenue growth from the new fermentation facility. So, there could be a lot of upside yet to be realised from here, but given what's happened, I respect the fact some investors may be content with sitting on the side lines for now.

[james188] 29/12/2023 14:58

I hope that the investment in the fermenters pays off (it needs to do so after the other heavy losses). However, with no contract details or figures, how are investors supposed to form any sensible judgement? The company needs to address this as a matter of urgency.

[hopeful holder] 29/12/2023 09:48

I added more earlier today as I see the positive impact of the enzyme side of the business will be significantly felt this year. Once this gets into full production, I can see a step change upwards in the companies valuation.

[hopeful holder] 27/12/2023 15:24

Anyone able to see where Level 2 is at price wise?

[wan] 23/12/2023 10:34

Staying with what's relevant....

EKF's core established business, with leading products and services, and good rates of organic growth, is clearly valuable (which some might value greater than others). But with the capacity expansion, and I would add: innovative biotechnology solutions, at the new South Bend facility nearing completion, there is very good reason to be optimistic about future rates of growth beyond the organic growth being delivered from the core business.

There will no doubt be those that are in no rush to invest ("wade in"), and I respect the reasons for that (plus it's part and parcel of the market). But clearly some investors, myself included, have chosen to take advantage of EKF's overly depressed share price(I get why this has happened btw, and it's a personal matter of judgement as to whether that has gone too far, or otherwise etc).

In terms of fermentation, one area that has been catching my attention over the last few months, is how much more critical the downstream processing is becoming and indeed has become, and as we know, the increase in customer needs for downstream processing was a significant factor that pushed scale-up revenues from the new facility into 2024.

From various validated sources: most of the biggest and most successful improvements in productivity to date have been delivered in the upstream processes (like fermentation), and it is now the downstream process that is receiving more attention and becoming even more critical with new technology and methods being deployed, and in many cases it is apparently where the differentiation and real value is created (for the manufacturer and the customer).

And although it has taken longer than originally guided (recall that customer needs for downstream processing became apparent, and no doubt played its part in the delay), it may be underappreciated that EKF will have installed 'cutting-edge downstream processes' to address the increasingly critical processing needs.

Current guidance: The South Bend site is currently operating with full fermentation capabilities and is also expected to have all downstream processing capabilities fully operational by December 2023.

And as I stated in post 3196, "Time, and obviously updates from EKF, will tell"

Suffice to recap the following though:

EKF Life Sciences is a specialist global manufacturer of high-quality enzymes and custom products for use in diagnostic, pharmaceutical and industrial applications. The Company is at the forefront of supporting life sciences global demand in precision fermentation, enzyme applications and research, providing innovative biotechnology solutions to deliver breakthrough discoveries and advancements in healthcare and medicine.

The Company's state-of-the-art facilities and leading technical expertise in specialist enzyme production uses precision microbial fermentation and cutting-edge downstream processes, to isolate and deliver the highest quality enzymes and biomolecules that have been specially engineered to customer specifications.

The new 24,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility addresses a significant gap in the US market for mid-volume manufacturing and will enable EKF to meet the increasing demands of its growing customer base. As part of its investment programme, EKF has installed 10L, 65L, 300L, 1,500L, 3,000L and 14,500L units as well as key upstream and downstream process capabilities at its South Bend plant. The cutting-edge, intelligent design of the Group's modular platform includes bioreactors ranging from 5L to 14,500L to enable it to deliver an end-to-end service from bench/proof-of-concept through to full scale commercial production. This efficient and scalable platform allows multiple batch cycles to run in parallel, enabling greater process control and precision to deliver effectively the desired yields.
(END)

Please conduct your own research when making investment decisions etc, as the originator, or the threads contributors, could be either wrong or inaccurate.

[yasx] 22/12/2023 08:46

Mills says positive things about all the Co’s in which he expresses an interest - doing the opposite of what he suggests proves fruitful - Renx being one example.

As for Wan, one ought to give him a wide berth. He simply follows Mills around and churns out lengthy meaningless articles. He has been doing the same on renx all the way down from £10 yet has suddenly gone quiet when it has fallen to 16p. I jest not.

EKF need to prove to the market that they are able to deliver - until then there is no rush to wade in.

[redwing1] 21/12/2023 17:24

Surely it proves nothing more than Mr Mills is a good salesman when making these podcasts for private investors. He may well be right about EKF but we won't know that until we start to see some numbers next year.

[wan] 20/12/2023 16:52

On the face of it, today's closing share price action indicates CM was right, that the core business (without the new enzyme business) is worth more than the current share price.

Time, and obviously updates from EKF, will tell!

[carlosdanger] 19/12/2023 14:39

What choice does he have to talk otherwise?

[wan] 19/12/2023 11:09

18th December 2023
Vox Markets Fund Manager Series: Christopher Mills, CEO of Harwood Capital

Chris Mills talking positively about EKF's business as a whole, and the underlying confidence in the new enzyme business(at 22mins 30 sec) -

[wan] 09/11/2023 16:31

Hear more about EKF Life Sciences, and our latest developments in Enzyme fermentation, custom bioprocessing, and contract manufacturing -

8th November 2023

EKF is showcasing its products and services at MEDICA 2023, held in Düsseldorf, Germany, between 13-16 November.

EKF delivers diagnostic technologies and biotechnology solutions that empower healthcare and medical providers to make informed clinical decisions through point-of-care testing and life sciences applications.

[wan] 07/11/2023 14:17

As a key EKF customer, Fresenius-Kabi's recent Results and news flow is worth keeping eye on -

[james188] 26/10/2023 08:14

The RNS talks about the potential for long-term strategic partnerships. In other words, they do not currently exist. If the revenues currently contracted were significant, that would have been announced. So, there is obvious potential, but clearly they took a flyer on this and it is high risk. A big call and I hope that they got it right. We simply do not know. At present, it is a cash drain. We need to see some figures.

[wan] 26/10/2023 07:44

A very positive update from EKF regarding the official opening of their new state-of-the-art Life Sciences manufacturing site.

[wan] 28/9/2023 14:17

Recoding of the Interim Presentation -

The Q&A from the Interim Presentation is now available, and it would appear that a large percentage of the questions came from James and myself. The Q&A is available on the Q&A tab in the above link

[james188] 27/9/2023 16:55

The presentation and the ensuing Q&A is available on the InvestorMeet Company website, which you can sign up to for free. It is really useful facility and for that reason it is used by a significant number of AIM listed and other companies. As well as the live presentation, I expect that IMC/EKF will update with written responses to all the questions submitted in the next few days.That may or may not provide additional information.

I concentrated on the two major projects in my post, but there were a number of other points. As wan has mentioned, we learnt that the Elkhart facility is going to be closed and operations moved to South Bend. That looks to be sensible, but why was it not even mentioned in the Interims. It is clearly material.

Finally, I agree that Julian Baines always comes across as genuine and honest - and I think that he is. Quite rightly, he kicks off the presentation with a mea culpa. He completely took his eye off the ball, presumably because he was looking to exit short term. He has now had to completely reverse that plan, presumably because of pressure from Christopher Mills and other major shareholders. As I say, he needs experienced help.

[james188] 27/9/2023 16:15

The company has undertaken two new projects requiring material investment amounts post COVID.

The first was ADL Health, which was an unmitigated disaster for which heads had to roll. Just what the board was doing in approving this deal is completely beyond me. The end result was that empty assurances soon evaporated and the deal had to be unwound resulting in a huge loss.

The second project (or series of projects) is the investment in new enzymes fermentation capacity at South Bend.To paraphrase the line in Field of Dreams, the company seems to have decided that "if we build it, they will come". I spent pretty much my entire career sorting out the financial arrangements for for projects were lenders and investors were heavily reliant upon the revenues from projects once built, commissioned and operational. South Bend appears to be a classic textbook example as to what not to do. Why more time was not spent in understanding the requirements of customers - and signing up at meaningful deals in advance is another question that I meant to ask yesterday, but I had already asked a considerable number of questions.

What we learnt on the IMC call yesterday is that the process has been completely shambolic. Costs are out of control (expected capex of $16m against the budget (which I assume would have included a contingency) of $9.75m. On top of that, the project is running very late because the commissioning process and the needs of end customers were not understood. That is very basic mismanagement. Add to that the fact that we were told that the team at South Bend did not tell senior management the truth as to what was going on. Why management did not get a grip much earlier on is also beyond me. I would complete the clear out by firing the non-execs, who have been completely ineffectual, at best.

I did ask what steps were being taken to strengthen/replace the on the ground team and to ensure much better communication about the project. Julian Baines cannot run the whole show and I very much doubt that he is going to relocate to South Bend. I did not get an answer to that question, presumably because the company is still trying to work out the best way out of this mess.

I could go on, but I will leave it at that for now. I am a shareholder and so I want the company to succeed. To have any chance of success (or even survival), there needs to be a root and branch review and much better ongoing management, which has to involve new experienced people coming in, notwithstanding the necessary cost saving measures that were outlined yesterday.











The second project 9or series of related projects)