Shares of medical suppliers soar with rise in virus cases

Singapore

SINGAPORE'S healthcare plays, in particular medical-supply stocks, rallied on Wednesday even as the benchmark Straits Times Index fell 0.07 per cent to 2,550.04. This came as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases continued to climb in the Republic and across the world.

Half of the top 10 active counters by volume on the Singapore bourse were healthcare-related companies: Medtecs International, Clearbridge Health, Biolidics, AsiaMedic and Healthway Medical Group.

Medtecs - which makes medical consumables such as hospital beds, wheelchairs, syringes and bandages - was the most heavily traded with 184.3 million shares changing hands. The stock clocked gains of 31.3 per cent or 3.1 Singapore cents to end the day at 13 cents.

Precision medicine firm Clearbridge Health, the second-most active counter with 160.8 million shares traded, ended at 25.5 Singapore cents, up 61.4 per cent or 9.7 cents.

Covid-19 test kit maker Biolidics - which the Singapore Exchange (SGX) queried over its unusual share price movement - jumped as much as 54.6 per cent or 29.2 Singapore cents to hit 82.7 cents at about 10am. It eased back to 76 cents, up 42.1 per cent or 22.5 cents on 86 million shares changing hands, before the company requested a trading halt at 1.09pm.

Meanwhile, medical imaging services provider AsiaMedic was up 18.2 per cent to 1.3 Singapore cent, and clinic operator Healthway Medical Group rose 12.1 per cent or 0.4 Singapore cent to finish at 3.7 cents.

Penny play QT Vascular, which develops devices for the minimally invasive treatment of vascular disease, increased by 33.3 per cent. Also outshining other stocks were the trio of rubber glove suppliers - Top Glove, Riverstone Holdings and UG Healthcare - with gains of between 3.1 per cent and 4.2 per cent.

In response to SGX's query, Biolidics on Wednesday evening disclosed that it is in the final stages of negotiations with a potential distributor for the sale of its Covid-19 rapid test kit in the US, which might be a possible explanation for its stock's trading activity.

The cancer diagnostics firm added that it is seeking regulatory authorisation for the Covid-19 test kit in certain other jurisdictions, and has been "actively developing the market" for the product in Singapore, the Philippines, the European Union and the US after having obtained the relevant approvals for those jurisdictions.

A Biolidics spokesperson told The Business Times that the company's rapid test kit is serology-based and thus detects Covid-19 antibodies in human serum, plasma and whole blood. It generates results more quickly and is potentially cheaper than another type of test - RT-PCR diagnostic tests - although they can be less accurate.

To conduct Biolidics' antibody test, a trained professional requires just a needle to draw blood with and a test tube to collect the blood. There is no need for other supplies such as chemical reagents, swabs or pipettes, the spokesperson said. In contrast, RT-PCR diagnostic tests can only be processed using those supplies, which have been in severe shortage in the US, according to media reports in the country.

The Catalist-listed firm now has a market cap of S$139.3 million. It lifted its trading halt after market close.

When The Business Times asked Clearbridge Health if there was a development at the firm that might explain its share price's surge, group chief executive officer Jeremy Yee said no, but noted that Clearbridge is a shareholder of Biolidics.

Clearbridge Health's wholly owned subsidiary Clearbridge BSA holds a 24.8 per cent stake in Biolidics as at March 18, according to Biolidics' annual report.

Singapore's coronavirus case tally crossed the 10,000 mark as at noon on Wednesday, after the Ministry of Health confirmed 1,016 new cases.

Globally, the US has the highest number of confirmed cases at 825,306, after some 4.2 million tests were conducted.