The Rhinomed Ltd (ASX: RNO) share price is racing into uncharted territory today. This comes after the medical device company announced it has completed development of a nasal swab designed for children.
The news sent Rhinomed shares flying to an all-time high of 46.5 cents. However, some profit-taking has forced a pullback to 39.5 cents, up 23.44% at the time of writing.
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What's driving the Rhinomed share price higher?
Investors are scrambling to pick up Rhinomed shares following the positive news from the company.
According to its release, Rhinomed has created the "Rhinoswab Junior", a world-first alternative method for testing children.
Designed to deliver the same benefits as the existing Rhinoswab, the new product has several novel child-friendly features. This is aimed at reducing fear, anxiety, and trauma associated with the use of existing nasal swabs on the market.
Rhinomed highlighted that it has received Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) approval to commence a clinical trial at The Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne.
The study will investigate the diagnosis of respiratory viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) in children with Rhinoswab Junior. A collection of nasal samples will be taken from 250 children aged between 4 years and 18 years old. The trial is expected to be conducted for up to 50 days.
Management commentary
Commenting on the news pushing the Rhinomed share price higher, Rhinomed CEO Michael Johnson said:
With SARS-CoV-2 testing now part of our everyday lives, we need easier, more standardised and comfortable sample collection methods to encourage people to get tested.
Testing rates in children remain low due, in no small part to the levels of distress, anxiety and fear children experience when being tested with a standard swab. We have sought to develop a swab that not only works better, but actually removes this fear, anxiety and distress.
Principal investigator Dr Shidan Tosif added:
Rhinoswab Junior has the potential to turn an otherwise unpleasant experience into a far more relaxed and possibly even fun experience for children. The ability of the child to control the insertion of the device, coupled with the comfort and novelty of the Rhinoswab design, offers major improvements in the user experience.
The Rhinomed share price has gained almost 400% over the last 12 months, and more than 140% year to date.
