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(Alliance News) - Genedrive PLC on Wednesday said it expects to report lower annual revenue as it reported progress on contracts and product development.
The stock more than trebled on Wednesday afternoon in London, trading at 32.00 pence each. The stock had closed at 9.00p each on Tuesday.
For its financial year to the end of June, the molecular diagnostics platform said it expects revenue of around GBP1.0 million, down 58% from GBP2.4 million for financial 2019 due to uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 outbreak. However, it said it expects to have enough cash to continue operations for the next six to nine months.
Genedrive also said it has turned its focus towards the development of two SARS-COV-2 detection tests. The company said it expects a clinically-validated test format to be available in around eight weeks. It added hat it is currently seeking development partners, distributors and non-dilutive funding to support the rapid development of the project.
"It is a critical time for our industry's expertise to contribute towards testing and treatment of the coronavirus pandemic. Our novel experience in developing molecular assays, the rapid workflows we can achieve with Genedrive compared to centralised testing, and our scalable manufacturing capability give the company an opportunity to contribute very significantly to the global crisis," said Chief Executive David Budd.
Separately, the Manchester-based company said it has secured a three-year contract with the US Department of Defense for the supply of around 500 Genedrive pathogen detection units and associated assays. No financial details of the deal were disclosed.
Genedrive said that although its HCV ID kit had started to gain commercial traction, the response of countries to the coronavirus outbreak makes it difficult to predict the extent to which the HCV business may be delayed or hurt. The HCV ID kit tests for hepatitis C.
The company also said its implementation trial of its antibiotic induced hearing loss test kit may slow down due to NHS resources being diverted to focus on the virus outbreak.
"Given the continued uncertainty and focus of healthcare providers on Covid-19, we expect to experience some disruption to our HCV and AIHL activities but are focused on managing our resources over the coming months so that we can benefit from these growth opportunities when global priorities normalise," Budd added.
By Ife Taiwo; ifetaiwo@alliancenews.com
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