The Anteotech Ltd (ASX: ADO) share price is pushing higher on Monday morning.
At the time of writing, the surface chemistry company's shares are up 6% to 36.5 cents.
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Why is the AnteoTech share price racing higher?
The catalyst for the rise in the AnteoTech share price on Monday has been an announcement relating to its EuGeni platform. This technology provides rapid screening and identification of COVID-19 with a simple lateral flow method using a nasal sample.
According to the release, AnteoTech plans to commence in-house manufacturing in Brisbane to enable the production capability of an additional 12 million test strips per annum. This brings it total test strip production capability now to 32 million per annum.
Also giving the AnteoTech share price a boost was news that it is progressing discussions with Axxin to increase production of the EuGeni reader, as well as reviewing other reader options. This is to enable rapid testing for different market segments.
Discussions with potential partners have begun, with AnteoTech expecting to provide additional updates in the near term.
AnteoTech's CEO, Derek Thomson, commented: "Our manufacturing strategy will enable AnteoTech to produce tests inexpensively and efficiently. Implementation of lateral flow test strip manufacture inhouse will enable us to produce new products and get them into the market without lengthy technical transfer processes to third parties.This will increase our speed to market and ensure quality."
"Our current lateral flow test strip capacity from Operon is 20 million lateral flow strips per year. Our initial investment in Brisbane will increase that capacity by an estimated 12 million lateral flow strips per year. We will increase this capability as required as EuGeni test demand across the entire range of tests we produce grows."
"We are also excited about the prospect of leveraging new cassette assembly and packaging capability around the globe. We are moving swiftly to harness this opportunity to align with the expected increase in demand for EuGeni tests in the future," he concluded.
The AnteoTech share price is now more than tripled in value since the start of the year.
