Biolidics Ltd - CGS-CIMB Research 2020-06-22: The Rise Of Rapid Test Kits

BIOLIDICS LIMITED (SGX:8YY)

Biolidics Ltd - The Rise Of Rapid Test Kits

Biolidics is a med tech firm that develops and sells diagnostic systems and other lab-developed tests for liquid biopsy on circulating tumour cells (CTCs).
It recently diversified into Covid-19 antibody testing, with regulatory approvals and distributorships already secured in some markets.
Management expects its rapid test kits and various distributorships to contribute positively to FY20F revenue. Biolidics recorded FY19 net loss of S$4.8m.

Established in 2009 and listed on the Singapore Exchange since Dec 2018, Biolidics (SGX:8YY) is a medical technology company spun off from a university-affiliated research centre.
Biolidics has developed and commercialised a fully-automated in vitro diagnostic (IVD) medical device (ClearCell® FX1 System) and the CTChip® FR1 biochip, to perform liquid biopsies to test for the presence of circulating tumour cells (CTCs). This technology enables the separation and enrichment of cancer cells from 7.5ml of blood in under two hours (vs. 7-30 days turnaround time for Guardant Health’s programmes), according to Biolidics.

On 30 Mar, Biolidics announced that it had partnered with a Chinese supplier to customise and manufacture Covid-19 antibody test kits. The group has since received approval from some authorities, including Singapore’s Health Sciences Authority, EU’s Conformité Européene (CE) marking and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA); it has also secured non-exclusive distributorships in HK, the US and selected ASEAN markets.
Unlike the reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test which is the global standard for active infections testing, Biolidics’s test kits serve to detect past infections using both IgG and IgM antibodies. Hence, they are not used for confirmatory testing nor as the sole basis for diagnosis, and are limited to testing in labs or at the point-of-care. These rapid test kits could be deployed as a screening tool (according to Biolidics and industry sources) given its quick turnaround (more than 95% accuracy in 10 minutes, based on its validation data) and cost effectiveness.

Management said in its SGX announcement (see Biolidics Announcements) that it expects the Covid-19 test kits and various distributorships to contribute positively to its FY20F revenue, though the financial impact may not be quantified as the volume and timing of orders cannot be ascertained.
See Biolidics Share Price; Biolidics Target Price; Biolidics Analyst Reports; Biolidics Dividend History; Biolidics Announcements; Biolidics Latest News.
Biolidics has net cash of S$6.0m as at end-FY19 and currently trades at 13.1x FY19 P/BV.

NGOH Yi Sin CGS-CIMB Research | Darren ONG CGS-CIMB Research | https://www.cgs-cimb.com 2020-06-22

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