SourceBio expands COVID-19 testing through partnership with Oxford Nanopore
(AIM:SBI ) has entered into a strategic commercial partnership with Oxford Nanopore Technologies Limited ("Oxford Nanopore") to offer a COVID-19 testing solution to corporate customers at scale via its own lab facilities.
The laboratory services provider said Oxford Nanopore's, CE-marked LamPORE COVID-19 assay, which detects SARS-CoV-2, will be used at SourceBio's ISO15189 accredited laboratory facility in Nottingham to offer a large-scale COVID-19 diagnostic testing service.
LamPORE has been shown to have sensitivity of 99.1% and specificity of 99.6% and allows for high performance test deployment in both high-throughput, traditional lab settings and smaller, more local lab environments to address the need for mass rapid, routine testing.
In this instance, the LamPORE COVID-19 test is performed from oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal swabs, which are sent to the SourceBio lab for assessment and can return a positive or negative result within 24 hours of the laboratory receiving the sample.
LamPORE also includes a built-in human action control, which enables operators to discriminate between negative results due to sample collection errors and negative results.
The LamPORE service will be offered as a further service by SourceBio to complement its existing COVID-19 PCR Testing services which are currently used by a range of commercial customers.
The service is expected to broaden access to rapid high-quality testing to support people to return to work, to visit friends and relatives safely, and to assist with international travel where testing is accepted or required, ‘given that LamPORE is a high-accuracy molecular test.’
Jay LeCoque, Executive Chairman of SourceBio, has described the partnership as “valuable” in that it delivers essential testing technology and a high-quality service offering at a crucial time in the worldwide effort to combat and manage the further spread of Coronavirus.
He said the alliance creates a 'total solutions approach' for both groups’ offerings by combining Oxford Nanopore's LamPORE test with its UKAS accredited lab services.
He said, “This combination allows both to provide clients with a high quality, highly scalable and highly professional product and a fully accredited laboratory services capability."
This is accompanied by the company’s fully awarded UKAS ISO15189 status from the UK Government - the minimum standard for the private sector providers of COVID-19 testing.
He added, “Very few commercial institutions have received this standard and it is a mandatory requirement from next summer 2021. This underscores the high standard of our accredited testing services and provides us with a significant advantage in the market."
“As the UK rolls out a vaccine programme, the importance of safeguarding workforces and customers, as well as friends and family, remains a priority for many businesses and individuals,” said Gordon Sanghera, Co-founder and CEO at Oxford Nanopore.
SourceBio successfully completed is IPO in October and has already made significant announcements with regard to its COVID-19 testing services. Since IPO the shares have traded within a range of 160p and 194p to open 5% higher at 170p this morning following the announcement.
Reasons to Follow SourceBio
SourceBio International is an international provider of laboratory services to clients in the pharmaceutical industry, the NHS and to private healthcare providers. The Group is headquartered in Nottingham, with additional facilities in the UK, Ireland and the US.
The company saw a positive start on its first day of trading on AIM, adding around £8m to its initial £120m market capitalisation while the £35m raised at 162p is intended to be used by it to scale up COVID-19 testing capacity as well as paying off shareholder and bank loans.
“We are delighted by the strong support we’ve received from institutional investors. Our IPO on AIM allows us to significantly increase our COVID-19 testing capacity, accelerate earnings growth in our core business and execute on potential M&A opportunities,” said LeCoque.
He said at the time of the IPO: “It’s an exciting time for our business and we look forward to executing on our ambitious growth plans and delivering value to our shareholders.”
Last month, the company announced that its funds from its IPO were enabling it to further scale its COVID-19 testing services to deliver against expected increases in future testing.
SourceBio expects to report total revenue of around £50m (FY19: £21.2m) and EBITDA of c.£14m (FY19: £3.0m) for the year ending 31 December 2020, with the vast majority of this increase in expected earnings driven by the contribution of COVID-19 testing revenues.
The group also announced last month that it had been accepted into the Increasing Capacity Framework Agreement for cancer testing services to NHS England, designed to reduce the significant backlog of elective surgeries impacting the NHS due to the pandemic which is expected to support the growth of the Healthcare Diagnostics business unit in 2021.
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