SYDNEY, April 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Australian rapid blood test company Atomo Diagnostics Limited today said it had entered into a binding supply agreement with French diagnostics company, NG Biotech, SAS (NG Biotech), for the supply of Atomo's integrated blood test devices to NG Biotech to use for its blood-based rapid test to detect COVID-19.
Under the agreement with NG Biotech - an existing customer of Atomo - the initial order is for 397,200 devices and the agreement provides NG Biotech with the right to purchase up to a total of 2.465 million devices during calendar year 2020. In addition, Atomo and NG Biotech intend to enter into a binding purchase agreement for the ongoing supply of Atomo products beyond 2020.
The sales agreement comes as Atomo announces the early close of its oversubscribed $30 million Initial Public Offer at 20 cents per share. The Company intends to list on the Australian Securities Exchange in mid-April 2020. Funds from the IPO will be used to accelerate the planned expansion of its production capacity to meet the anticipated ongoing demand for its test devices to deliver COVID-19 tests.
The rapid COVID-19 test will be delivered using Atomo's award winning proprietary device. The NG Biotech rapid test is CE Marked for professional use for COVID-19 testing in Europe. Results are obtained from a drop of blood in 15 minutes and indicate if the person is infected or has been in contact with the virus.
The Atomo rapid test device has already secured both professional and self-test approvals in Europe as an HIV screening rapid test and Atomo's HIV Self-Test is the only HIV product approved in Australia by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for self-test use.
Atomo co-founder and CEO John Kelly said, "We've previously demonstrated to healthcare providers, regulators and to the market the ability of our devices to deliver reliable results for challenging diseases like HIV within 15 minutes. We are delighted to be able to now deploy our products with our OEM partner NG Biotech in the fight against COVID-19 and believe that widespread access to easy-to-use professional use and self-tests are critical to that fight. We are continuing technical and commercial discussions with three additional diagnostic companies for further commercialisation of COVID-19 tests using Atomo's rapid test devices."
Major shareholders in Atomo include billionaire property developer Lang Walker, former Macquarie Bank Chief Executive Officer Allan Moss, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-backed social impact investor Global Health Investment Fund and the Government of Canada's Grand Challenges Canada fund.
Canaccord Genuity is Lead Manager for the IPO.