Member Info for Poidster

Thanks but no thanks.
I did a bit of digging before Christmas, especially their marketing & sales team.
They look like good, competent, seasoned ppl, which made things even more baffling.
I give up trying to make sense of novacyt now, nothing makes sense anymore.
For my own sanity, I only check in here now every now and then.
Happy new year albeit a little late.

Its going to get v messy over the next 2 months. Hope everyone stays well in the UK, NHS England has pretty much collapsed now, with this new variant looming, its not looking rosy.
To make matters worse my mother gas just managed to fall over and snap her ankle completely, which is going to need surgery, AED was like a battlefield scene

And to you K x

@WBA, no idea tbh, but there haven't been any adverts for Novacyt and or their distributors either.
I know they haven't been knocking on NHS lab doors trying to leverage the fact that their machines are already in lots of labs. Why ? Dunno beyond me tbh.
The marketing team don't strike me as a bunch of idiots tbh so, as I said, no idea what to make of it all.
Just wish they were more proactive, nothing, at all, seems to be happening.
There are opportunities out there for them, who knows maybe they are selling stuff but no RNS regarding any significant contracts.
They cannot just keep treading water waiting for the DHSC dispute to be resolved.
I worked on the NPfIT project several years ago. Fujitsu pulled out following contract disputes, the total contract value wasn't much short of £1 billion.
It dragged out for years before it was resolved in an out of court settlement.
So this dispute could take ages.
Compared to the disgrace that is MedPro and lots of others regarding PPE, going after novacyt is just bizarre.
Nova actually helped and their products were signed off and used.
So why are they targeting novacyt far more attention should be directed to new companies set up to profiteer from the pandemic.

I'm still at a bit of a loss about what novacyts marketing strategy is. After a bit of digging their marketing team aren't newbies and look well seasoned. I know I keep banging on about biomedical scientist mag, but there must be a reason they have chosen not to advertise in it, why I'm not quite sure but I know, they know about it.
So, I'm left a little confused, I've not got a marketing background per se and I don't know whats going on behind the scenes, tbh none of us do.
I still think they have missed opportunities in key markets but wtf do I know.
Let's see what the new year brings.
Wishing all legit holders a peaceful and happy Christmas and a prosperous New year (lol)
Take care everyone, its only money...

@L that money won't last forever, the *********s on the BOD are just going to leech that cash into their own bank accounts over time.
I had such high hopes for this company when I invested, now its just a dull husk, with the BOD parasites pillaging the company for all the remaining cash

Its a paper magazine that goes out to every member of the IBMS every month (institute of biomedical scientists)
These are the ppl either doing the tests or ordering the equipment.
To this day, novacyt or primer design have placed no, as in none, adverts in this industry specific magazine.
On every page, pretty much, there are adverts from Roche, Abbott, Fuji etc, etc.
WHY haven't novacyt advertised in this, they are small fry compared to the other players, however, with the advent of community diagnostic hubs, this is novacyts forte. Its a multi billion pound contract, they are now planning more. Novacyt didn't bid for any of these contracts, Why not !!!
What was salad man doing during his tenure, this was/is novacyts strongest trait.
Can someone try to shed some light on this because I'm completely at a loss.
Logic seems to have left the chat.
I'm personally out of answers and I shouldn't be.

@W I've honestly got no Idea, I'd like to think that after Salad man left, they may have missed the deadline for the next publication but thats me being generous. Most of the ads from Roche, Abbott etc are for point of care tests, there are lots of others too, I could list them if required.
I honestly don't get this, its just mental.
I know the dispute with DHSC is an issue but they are in the NHS suppliers catalogue, individual organisations can order from them. I'm honestly lost for words, it almost feels deliberate, why, ive absolutely no idea.
Just sick of it all now, the BOD, to me are utterly useless. Salad man arrived & for the life of me, I have no idea what he did in the 12months plus he was there.
How on earth did he get that job ?
He did nothing, not a little or a bit, NOTHING, except give himself and the BOD a rise.

Another month, another edition with zero adverts from Novacyt. Its wall to wall adverts from their competitors in there on nearly every page.
I give up, what a ****show

@B2H

Probably all winter, its going to get worse before it gets better

the slide agglutination tests (strep Groups) requires isolation of a suspect bacteria on culture media, so thats at least a 24hr + delay.
Thats what labs use when they see Beta Haemolytic bacteria on blood agar plates, crowded market, no value.
Its the near patient testing stuff, there and then thats important right now, Swabs could be taken at the same time as the LFT for subsequent confirmation if required

@21ATS, no idea tbh, but the tinterweb seems like the wild west tbh. Lets face it, they couldnt be any worse than the innova LFT tests for covid.
If it were me, and I was inclined sell these things, in the advert, I would make sure that any and all relevant validation information of said test was fully declared in the advert,
It would then be upto the individual buying the test to make their own interpretation of what they were buying. As long as no false claims were made about it, wheres the liability ?
Obvs a lot more to this probably than my late night musings but a quick trawl of Amazon would lead me to believe its open season.
The main point about this though is that this is a need that needs fulfilling TODAY, not next week, next month but now.
Novacyt because of its size is agile and able to respond quickly. This currently for them is a huge asset, for the love of god, I hope they leverage that fact.

This thread must be the longest Ive seen in a while without the cold water shower of P100 P!$$ing all over it.

So, I'd love to hear your erudite thoughts about this Mr P

@Sharestack, exactly.
If Nova had the infrastructure, they could market directly to the public. Failing that just ship gazillions of the tests to Amazon, take the hit on their charges and just let Amazon deal with the Logistics.
The world has changed post covid, ppl well versed now in home LFT testing.
Mention the word Children and cost suddenly doesnt become an issue. Cynical, I know and this goes against the grain for me but the other side of the coin is that they will be helping to save lives without getting embroiled with the NHS behemoth that normally screws things up anyway.
This again will be global not just restricted to UK.
Think outside of the box and earn some money for a change.

@k
Unlikely to be any shortages of reagents as hardly anyone manufactures LFTs for Strep A, I didn't even know they existed tbh.
They will be different reagents to the ones lab use anyway

Just another point, this just illustrates that there is a life for nova beyond covid.
There's always going to be another challenge to the population in one form or another.
This may sound ghoulish but this is the industry in which nova work.
As I have said before, the R&D, world class, this is now a challenge for marketing so be equally as good.
Before anyone jumps on me about profiteering on others misfortune, this is the industry we're in ppl.
Taking a leaf out of the Tories playbook, look for profit first.
If I were of a similar mindset, I should set up a company now, buy 1000s of these LFTS from Novacyt, then flog them on amazon for £50 per test.
See how it works ?

@neil,
No not really, in this instance v rapid identification is key, any PCR type test takes time.
If the LFT has been validated, which im assuming it has, it can be done there and then there's so many coughs colds sore throats atm, an almost immediate differential diagnosis can lead to immediate treatment or not

I'm really hoping that after DA departure we see an upswing in marketing from Novacyt.
This Strep A development is v worrying.
This is such a dangerous bacteria, it scares me how pathogenic it is.
We always used to refer to it in the lab as the Marine of bugs.
It can cause so, so much damage in frighteningly short timescales.
Given nova have a rapid LFT test sat on the shelf, needs to be broadcast far and wide.
I wouldn't wait on any large NHS contracts, sell direct to Hospitals, GPs
They are now inundated with kids suspected scarlet fever.
Blanket prophylaxis with penicillin isn't the way to go. UK wide shortage of paediatric penicillin solution.
So supplies need to be put to best use.
Rapid identification of Strep A is essential. If caught early, its very easy to treat, if not can be very deadly.
I've got direct experience of fit healthy adults with a minor abrasions, dying within 24hrs if Strep A gets going.
When headlines used to talk about flesh eating bacteria, its strep A they were referring too, just my 2 pence worth of opinion.
Be interested to see how nova go about this.

Its Flu A thats causing most of the respiratory illnesses at the moment, far outweighing covid.

It wouldn't surprise me in the least to see GM back as CEO.
There's something strange going on here.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, there has been no, as in none, advertisements in the UK industry magazine targeted at the actual ppl who use these instruments.
Novacyt did not tender for any of the contracts available for the English community diagnostic hubs. A market, by their own admission, is their forte.
The total contract value for this was billions.
They haven't leveraged that fact, at all, of their Q machines being in 100s of English labs, now largely sitting in cupboards being unused.
Novacyt had a foot in the door, their machines were used, extensively during Covid and were very successful in that endeavour, providing rapid, accurate tests in a very short timescale.
Once covid testing diminished, this was an open goal. Instruments already in situ, staff knew how to use them, eventually, esp when promate was introduced.
There is a plethora of other uses these instruments could have been used for post covid, in routine diagnostic labs.
That would have improved patients' care and lowered costs.
Novacyt, as far as I'm aware, chose not to pursue any of these avenues, for reasons that elude me.
For the last 12 months plus they appear to have done nothing. That may be unfair but I'm voicing my opinion on the evidence I have to hand atm.
We had a new CEO, whose background seemed to focus on marketing. Novacyt marketing dived off a cliff after his appointment, if possible, it was worse after his appointment. We have had 3 or 4 presentations from him during his tenure that were frankly rubbish.
SP always tanked after every one.
None of this makes any sense to me, at all.
If you are a young company, being given that kind of opportunity, you would be kicking ppls door down to sell more stuff to them. This didn't and hasn't happened.
If not, why not.
What am I missing here ??
PS, I've copied this post, so if it gets deleted, as many of my posts seem to, I will repost.

Jaysus, don't read the board for a week and come back to this.
What a ****show.
DA been sacked, never did get to find out what organic and inorganic growth was, probably means no growth cos that is what he delivered.
What a waste of time and money.
I'm at a total loss as to what he did for over a year. I'd be embarrassed by that performance, would live to see what he puts on his cv for his tenure.
Next....
In unrelated news, again no adverts in the UK industry magazine *biomedical scientist, not been a single 1.
Would appear our sales strategy was to tweet something every now and then, love to see the marketing budget for that.
Ffs