MedMira Inc. increased its workforce from 12 to 50 in May in order to raise the production level of its REVEALCOVID-19 total antibody test, currently being sold in the United States and Europe.
The Halifax company, which operates out of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved laboratory in Bayers Lake Park, has for the past 26 years developed and sold test kits for infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis.
But with the arrival of the COVID-19 virus, MedMira co-founder and CEO Hermes Chan said, the company realized its trademark testing method could be applied to test for those virus antibodies, as well.
“From a production perspective, at this point, I will say 80 per cent of (production) is all COVID-related products,” Chan said in an interview Tuesday.
“We also continue with our infectious disease (test) for HIV and hepatitis. In fact, we had plans to kickstart a new clinical trial in around January-February time frame for our new HIV test . . . and then all the clinical sites got locked down. So, we are being delayed for close to a year; we cannot start anything until the early part of January.”
The COVID-19 rapid testing used in Nova Scotia recently is the Abbott BinaxNOW rapid antigen test, Chan explained.
“They take a specimen from a nasal swab and it would detect the virus antigen, which confirms that someone is currently infected (with COVID-19). (The MedMira) antibody test, on the other hand, is a reactive antibody test, which tells you that you’ve been exposed to the virus and your body is generating the antibodies to fight against the virus,” he said.
“The antigen test is to confirm you are currently infected, and the antibody test tells you whether you have been exposed.”
The MedMira rapid test requires a drop of blood, serum or plasma to be tested.
The company has applied to widely distribute its REVEALCOVID-19 rapid test in the U.S., Canada and Europe. It has applied for emergency use authorization from the FDA in the U.S. and is awaiting word on whether it will receive that approval.
Even though it has not yet received approval from U.S. authorities, it still has permission to distribute it in the U.S., and the same goes for Europe.
However, Chan said, MedMira cannot distribute its test in this country while it is still under review by Health Canada.
“We can’t even distribute samples,” he said, adding that it is “a tedious process.”
VERSATILE TEST
Chan said he believes there will be two ways the REVEALCOVID-19 test will be used.
“One will be people getting ready for the vaccinations. That will be one major application to find out whether the individuals have already carried the naturally occurring antibodies before their vaccinations,” he said.
“And after the vaccinations you would need to pass the antibodies level to ensure the vaccination is successful. So, I think that will play very nice as a companion product to the vaccine.”
MedMira was only able to start distributing the test during the last month of its 2019-20 fiscal year, which brought in an increase in revenue, but it couldn’t all be recognized in the fiscal year that ended July 31.
On Monday, MedMira released its fourth-quarter and full-year financial results. It recorded a net loss of $2 million on revenue of $919,072 in fiscal 2019-20, compared to a net loss of $2.1 million on revenue of $527,445 in fiscal 2018-19.
In the 2019-20 financial year, MedMira reported operating expenses of $1.87 million, compared to operating expenses of $1.72 million in the previous fiscal year. The increase of nine per cent was due to additional labour costs associated with the enhanced production for the COVID-19 test, the company stated in a news release.
“All long- and short-term debts are currently under negotiation to restructure terms and conditions of repayment,” the company said in its financial report.
Markus Meile, CFO of MedMira, said in the news release: “Whereas this new opportunity (REVEALCOVID-19 test) provided MedMira additional revenues and cash flow, other product sales had suffered during the third and fourth financial quarters, which was mainly due to the global lockdowns and the market’s focus on COVID-19 testing. However, subsequent to the financial year end, these sales have steadily increased and will be reported in the following financial quarters.”
