The IDT Australia Limited (ASX: IDT) share price is crashing down to Earth on Thursday morning.
At the time of writing, the pharmaceutical manufacturing company's shares are down 37% to 30 cents.
Why is the IDT Australia share price crashing today?
Investors have been selling down the IDT Australia share price today after it was dealt a bitter blow.
Earlier this year, the company announced that it successfully manufactured an mRNA drug product. This made IDT the first in Australia to manufacture a cGMP mRNA drug product.
In light of this, there were hopes that this would support its Australian Government Approach To Market submission to establish an onshore mRNA manufacturing capability (ATM).
However, this morning the Australian Government has confirmed that IDT's ATM submission has not been selected to progress to the next stage of the process.
IDT's CEO, Dr David Sparling, commented: "Whilst we are disappointed in the outcome of the ATM process, IDT has developed and progressed several alternative strategic options. The Company has successfully delivered on the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS) COVID-19 mRNA receptor binding domain vaccine candidate project, being Australia's first locally manufactured cGMP mRNA finished product and clearly showcases IDT's manufacturing capabilities in this regard."
What's next?
Dr Sparling notes that the company remains in the running for the Manufacturing Collaboration Stream Grant Opportunity.
"IDT is now sterile licenced and is maintaining its sterile facilities in a state of readiness to accept COVID-19 vaccine content at the Government's discretion. The Company is also waiting to receive feedback on its submission to the Australian Government's $800m Modern Manufacturing Initiative (MMI) Manufacturing Collaboration Stream Grant Opportunity," Dr Sparling added.
Positively, the company also stressed that the proposal is unaffected by the outcome of the ATM process. It will provide a market update if and when additional information comes to hand.
