Ekf Diagnostics Share Discussion Threads

[malcolmmm] 28/10/2020 08:40

Sold some ORPH after a great run and topped up here, looking good .Techinvest will advise 'Keep Buying' imo

[tongosti] 28/10/2020 08:26

No matter pal - the best tip off is the tape itself. Volumes already at 80% of 50dma. And it's very early doors. Momentum looking great fellas.

[btgman] 28/10/2020 08:19

Another solid RNS from EKF adding to their ever growing story what this does is gives exposure to a massively growing market and will no doubt bring in many new customers but also will add the ability to sell our other products to those new customers.

AIMHO
GLA
BTG

[marvelman] 28/10/2020 08:02

This company remains under the radar of PI's and this BB along with it. To be honest I hope it remains that way. A great BB and it goes without saying those that contribute so much research are greatly appreciated by those like myself that can but follow.

[tongosti] 28/10/2020 08:00

Let's see what Mr Market will make of it all. Only a few seconds remaining to the open...

[wan] 28/10/2020 07:42

This is indeed a very interesting development and is timely given the very recent news flow surrounding the research findings regarding the relatively rapid decline in antibodies post Covid infection.

First and foremost these tests are unique, they are the first tests to deliver quantitative COVID antibody testing and without needing specialised testing equipment.

My interpretation is that demand will be strong, but importantly demand is likely to build significantly as we strive to understand what concentration of antibodies confers immunity, and indeed whether any potential vaccines require repeat doses etc. Clearly this will be immediately incremental business for EKF, and it could build to being a very significant addition!

Ultimately, this gives EKF exposure to the explosion in research into understanding what level of antibodies protect from reinfection (and possibly as part of Covid recovery during/after hospital admission i.e. declining antibody levels might imply the patient is recovering), vaccine development (even those in late stage) and possibly post vaccine development i.e. do you need a vaccine, or do you need a top-up!

[tongosti] 28/10/2020 07:38

Good news fellas

[rivaldo] 28/10/2020 07:25

Indeed - EKF using its resources to best advantage during the pandemic:

"EKF Diagnostics Holdings plc (AIM: EKF), the AIM listed point-of-care business, announces a two year marketing and distribution agreement with Kantaro Biosciences, LLC ("Kantaro") , a joint venture between the Mount Sinai Health System and RenalytixAI plc (LSE: RENX / NASDAQ: RNLX), and manufacturing partner Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ: TECH) .

EKF will have exclusive rights to market and distribute COVID-SeroKlir , Kantaro's quantitative SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody test kit in the UK and Germany and non-exclusive rights in Europe. For the research market, EKF will have non-exclusive rights to distribute COVID-SeroIndex across the UK and Europe. Kantaro antibody testing technology supports assessment of immunity to COVID, which is a potentially critical component to maintaining the flow of commerce locally and internationally, and to understanding the effectiveness of vaccination programs."

EDIT - Mirandaj, great minds think alike :o))

[mirandaj] 28/10/2020 07:25

Agreed hastings!

Not sure I quite understand why non exclusive in Europe apart from UK and Germany but that is obviously the agreement with this joint venture.

EKF Diagnostics Holdings plc (AIM: EKF), the AIM listed point-of-care business, announces a two year marketing and distribution agreement with Kantaro Biosciences, LLC ("Kantaro") , a joint venture between the Mount Sinai Health System and RenalytixAI plc (LSE: RENX / NASDAQ: RNLX), and manufacturing partner Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ: TECH) .

EKF will have exclusive rights to market and distribute COVID-SeroKlir , Kantaro's quantitative SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody test kit in the UK and Germany and non-exclusive rights in Europe. For the research market, EKF will have non-exclusive rights to distribute COVID-SeroIndex across the UK and Europe. Kantaro antibody testing technology supports assessment of immunity to COVID, which is a potentially critical component to maintaining the flow of commerce locally and internationally, and to understanding the effectiveness of vaccination programs.

[hastings] 28/10/2020 07:06

Interesting and welcome news this morning, over to you Wan!

[james188] 27/10/2020 14:24

I skimmed through the AIM Admission Document and it confirmed my previous understanding that Christopher Mills (through Harwood Capital)is a prime mover behind recent events at Source Bio. As well as being the major shareholder, Harwood Capital is also Source Bio's landlord.

Given Mills/Harwood Capital's other holdings in EKF etc, there are obvious conflicts that need to be managed, but equally there are opportunities for further mutually beneficial deals between EKF and Source Bio.I expect that we will hear more on this front in due course.

[wan] 27/10/2020 09:15

Rivaldo...Thanks for the heads-up.

Amongst much, I note the following excerpt from the Source Bio Placing and proposed Admission to trading on AIM
Released 07:00:09 27 October 2020

Infectious Disease Testing

The Company has rapidly configured its Nottingham facility to build COVID-19 testing capacity to more than 6,000 tests per day. The Group is continuing to respond to significant market demand by expanding its capabilities and the Directors believe that the Company's existing COVID-19 laboratory could handle a maximum capacity and throughput of 10,500 tests per day, which is the target throughput by 31 December 2020. The Group may also be able to utilise new technology to enhance throughput and could also, if appropriate, consider taking on additional suitable facility space in order to meet higher potential market demand.

To date, the NHS, the DHSC and private healthcare customers have dominated demand for the Company's COVID-19 testing services. The Directors expect demand from commercial customers to grow, and the Company aim to continue to increase capacity to capitalise on this potential demand.

Expand services offering

The Board recognises that the COVID-19 landscape is rapidly evolving and believes that a high volume Antigen RT-PCR COVID-19 test will remain the most reliable and effective backbone of any testing programme. The Company remains committed to exploring other complementary testing protocols as they become available. Any additional tests that may be offered for COVID-19 testing, or indeed any other Infectious Disease Testing, represent further opportunities for incremental revenue generation.


They certainly appear to be mobilising!

[mginvestor] 27/10/2020 08:19

pldazzle,

You can view the admission document under Documentation and Announcements here:



You can also read through a presentation here at the bottom:

[pldazzle] 27/10/2020 08:16

mginvestor - could you give a link to the admission document? I couldn't find it on the SourceBio International plc website.

[wan] 27/10/2020 08:00

Antigen testing news -

10/26/2020
Ortho’s VITROS® COVID-19 Antigen Test Capable of Accurate Mass-Scale Testing Achieves CE Mark

The VITROS SARS-CoV-2 Antigen test also is the first test to run on Ortho’s high-throughput, fully automated VITROS® platform from swabs rather than the blood and body fluid samples typically run by the systems. Samples for Ortho’s SARS-CoV-2 antigen test can be collected in bulk, stored at room temperature for up to 24 hours or 48 hours if refrigerated, and contrary to PCR tests which can take hours to obtain results, run on Ortho’s high-throughput VITROS® Systems, which are capable of processing up to 130 antigen samples/hour.

Ortho’s SARS-CoV-2 antigen test runs on Ortho’s VITROS® XT 7600 Integrated System, the VITROS® 3600 Immunodiagnostic System, and the VITROS® 5600 Integrated System. Ortho’s VITROS Systems are self-contained and do not require an external water source to run.

Ortho manufactures its SARS-CoV-2 antigen test in Rochester, New York, and will soon scale up production in Pencoed, U.K. The test will be available worldwide in large volumes beginning in early November.

Full release/details -

I assume the swab referred to will arrive in a transport media. So hopefully the new ATM product will also have differentiating attributes.

November is going to see an explosion of antigen tests being rolled out!

[mginvestor] 27/10/2020 07:43

From the SourceBio Admission Document the related party transactions part mentions EKF:

Distribution Agreement between Source BioScience UK Limited and EKF Diagnostics
Holdings plc

Christopher Mills, a non-executive director of SourceBio is a director of EKF Diagnostics Holdings
plc (EKF). On 1 May 2020, Source BioScience UK Limited (“SBUL”) entered into a distribution
agreement with EKF under which EKF manufactures PrimeStore MTM tubes (the “Products̶1;), used
for the provision of COVID-19 testing services, and supplies them to SBUL. Title to the Products
does not pass to SBUL until EKF has received payment in full in cleared funds. Once settled, SBUL
may then sell the Products in certain exclusive territories, namely England, Wales, Scotland, Jersey,
Guernsey and any such other countries as mutually agreed between the parties. The agreement
commenced on 28 April 2020 for a duration of one year, after which it will automatically renew on
an annual basis for a period of one year at a time. The agreement shall come to an end if a
termination event occurs, in accordance with the agreement, or if one party gives the other
60 days’ written notice of its intention to terminate the agreement.

The agreement grants SBUL the right to use a number of EKF’s trademarks and also contains
various undertakings, warranties and indemnities given by each party to the other. SBUL is
prohibited from selling or manufacturing products which directly or indirectly compete with EKF,
save with EKF’s consent. The agreement refers to volumes being agreed between the parties in
writing from time to time. The Company has confirmed no minimum volume commitments are
currently in place.

[senttothegallows] 27/10/2020 07:28

This is quite interesting

Source BIO
Raised £35m
The net proceeds of the Placing will be used by the Company:

- to repay outstanding shareholder and bank loans; and

- for general corporate expenses, including working capital and capital expenditure required in order to further scale-up the COVID-19 testing business.

Core business Ebitda £2.8m (Note EKF first half EBITDA £8.93m)

Market Cap on Admission £120.2m

AIMHO
GLA
BTG

[rivaldo] 27/10/2020 07:13

RNS this morning from EKF's customer SourceBio International about its admission to AIM having raised £35m:



No specific mention of EKF in the RNS, but there may well be in the prospectus, which I haven't read yet, referring to their PrimeStore supply contract.

[wan] 26/10/2020 09:32

Just a quickie (I have work to do!)to highlight something else perhaps notable within the EKF news that I highlighted this morning.

Some might recall from my posts 665 & 666, that apparently the Royal Mail is targeting a contract worth almost £800m to spearhead mass home testing for up to two and a half years under Boris Johnsons Operation Moonshot.

As a reminder -
Keith Williams, the chairman, wants postal workers to deliver and collect up to 200,000 home Covid testing kits a day until mid-2023 -

Full story -


Apart from it must be incumbent upon the government, and indeed the organisation undertaking any such contract, that it is very safe for all handlers involved, not to mention the general public. It's perhaps then notable that EKF are highlighting the attributes of PrimeStore MTM use in the postal system -

Pathogenic samples stored in the FDA-cleared, CE-IVD marked PrimeStore MTM novel viral transport media, including SARS-CoV-2, are inactivated within minutes of collection. This allows such samples to be transported safely through the postal system or via courier and complies with UN3373 packaging regulations. Furthermore, as samples are stable in PrimeStore MTM for seven days at ambient temperatures, this removes the need for all cold chain logistics during sample collection, transportation and storage. Thereby, preventing mishandled samples and making postal collection a realistic option.
(END)

To my mind this should make PrimeStore MTM being insisted upon by handlers/organisations, or for that matter even making a postal contract fundamentally viable or indeed attractive (not to mention reassuring the postal workers union it's safe!)

[masurenguy] 26/10/2020 08:37

wan, I also concur with Rivaldo - thanks very much for your informative updates.

[wan] 26/10/2020 08:33

So, it's worth keeping an eye on Trellus Health -

Groundbreaking Study Finds Link Between Resilience and Improved Patient Outcomes
Scientific Publications | October 19, 2020

Research links higher levels of resilience to lower disease burden and higher quality of life in patients with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis

Study Published in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Journal
The first-ever study examining the association between resilience and IBD symptoms and surgical outcomes as published in the Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Journal. The study, which was conducted by Trellus Health’s co-founders, Dr. Marla C. Dubinsky and Dr. Laurie Keefer, showed that higher levels of resilience — defined as the inherent and modifiable capacity of an individual to cope or recover from adversity — are associated with lower disease activity and better quality of life in patients with IBD. In addition, the study suggests resilience may be a modifiable factor that can risk-stratify IBD patients prone to poor outcomes including surgery.

Stress and depression have been found to increase the frequency of unplanned care, resulting in high health costs in a wide range of diseases, such as IBD. One of the costliest chronic conditions, IBD costs the U.S. healthcare system alone over $30 billion a year. IBD is a life-long chronic condition, affecting approximately three million patients in the United States with over 70,000 new cases diagnosed in the country each year. The condition is highly stressful due to unpredictable flares and surgeries, and requires continuous adaptation of self-management skills, including adherence to complex medication regimens and management of the disease’s potential harmful effects ofbowel damage, fatigue, and disability. This constant stress can significantly impact patients’ lives, leading to additional psychological challenges, such as anxiety and depression.

“Today, there is a clear and critical gap in the care provided to patients with IBD,” said Laurie Keefer, PhD, Trellus Health co-founder, Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry and Director for Psychobehavioral Research in Mount Sinai’s Gastroenterology Division. “This study proves there is an opportunity to better support the most vulnerable patients living with this condition by addressing it from both a clinical and psychosocial point of view. Identifying patients with low resilience enables clinicians to develop individualized treatment plans that focus on resilience-building, which lead to better overall health outcomes and decreased costs.”

“Trellus Health’s exclusive license to the patent-pending GRITTTMmethodology from Mount Sinai enables us to apply Dr. Keefer’s psychosocial resilience assessment to risk stratify IBD patients and generate personalized care plans to build resilience,” explained Monique Fayad, Trellus Health, CEO. “We are thrilled to be the first company to apply a resilience-driven approach to care delivery and improve outcomes for complex chronic conditions, starting with IBD.”

“Increasing resilience is key for patients with chronic conditions to feel empowered as life throws challenges at them,” explained Marla C. Dubinsky, MD, Trellus Health co-founder and Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine, Chief of Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology and co-director of Susan and Leonard Feinstein IBD Clinical Center at Mount Sinai. “Resilience can fluctuate depending on life’s circumstances, so building a support network and personalized plan based on a specific individual’s needs is paramount in turning a patient into a warrior.”

Trellus Health founders, Dr. Dubinsky, and Dr. Keefer served as investigators for this study. Additional researchers included: Priya Sehgal, MD, MPH, Ryan C. Ungaro, MD, MS, Carol Foltz, PhD, Brian Iacoviello, PhD.

[wan] 26/10/2020 08:17

Yes Rivaldo, the imminent dividend is a timely reminder (NS&I interest rate drops to 0.15% in November) and a dividend payment of 1p still makes cash look very unattractive, and adds to the attraction here. Especially if one starts to consider what Trellus Health might be valued at in a potential spin-out (slated for early 2021)

[cheshire man] 26/10/2020 07:37

Indeed rivaldo,,,,,,thanks wan Interesting read :-)

[pugugly] 26/10/2020 07:35

Not sure if posted before but if not a very useful site to track COVID by country and levels of infection and tests