Empower Clinics Inc (CSE:CBDT) (OTCQB:EPWCF) (FRA:8EC) announced Thursday that it is expanding its KAI Medical Laboratory in Dallas, Texas in anticipation of projected growth in COVID-19 testing requirements in the US, Canada and overseas.
The company plans to expand the diagnostics laboratory to roughly double its current size. Empower acquired the facility in October and bumped up its production of coronavirus test kits to 6,000 units in its first quarter of operation from 1,300 total units prior to acquisition.
Looking ahead, Empower expects to beat that quarterly figure in January alone with some 8,000 tests, and the company has set goals of 1,000 and 2,000 tests per day for February and March, respectively. This does not include the recent order for 25,000 KAI Saliva test kits nor any from KAItests.com.
READ: Empower Clinics says KAI Medical Laboratory sells out first 5,000 units of its EU and FDA-approved saliva-based COVID-19 test
"Our investment in R&D is really starting to pay off for KAI Medical, starting with a new state-of-art laboratory information system to automate processes for the anticipated growth in volume,” CEO Steven McAuley said in a statement. “Next, we have hired three new scientists, increased administrative staff and are activating a call center to provide world-class customer support.”
Kai Saliva test kit
Empower also announced that it filed a Medical Device Establishment Licence (MDEL) with Health Canada in order to import, distribute and sell its KAI Medical COVID-19 Saliva Test. The saliva test saw success in the US when it launched in December, the company said, with an initial soft launch order of 5,000 units and the aforementioned order for 25,000 KAI Saliva PCR Test Kits, which has a sales value of approximately $5.5 million.
If the application is successful, KAI Saliva test kits would provide Canada's major airlines, with a viable solution for travellers who leave Canada on a round-trip but have no credible means of sourcing a compliant, self-administered COVID-19 test in a foreign country, the company said. Foreign travellers could receive and take the test in their home countries, while Canadian travellers could take KAI Saliva test kits with them on their trip to administer prior to return travel, then a result will be provided prior to boarding flights back to Canada..
“The investment in new test protocols such as the Kai Saliva test kit, combined with our Health Canada medical device licence, positions us to be a leader in the reactivation of travel for Canadians,” McAuley said.
Home saliva test
The next milestone is the pending launch of the company’s home-based KAI Saliva Test, using its new platform www.KAItests.com. The platform will enable individuals and businesses to order the test kit online, have it shipped to them for simple specimen collection, then returned to the KAI Medical Laboratory for processing and the provision of test results.
According to the company, users merely spit into a funnel, then close the funnel with a lid containing a liquid to be mixed with the saliva by simply shaking it for five seconds. The specimen is then returned to KAI Medical Labs from anywhere in the country for processing. KAI will then analyze and provide a response within 24 hours through its HIPAA-compliant IT system, the company said.
This represents a viable solution for the new travel policy instituted by the Canadian government and serves as the basis for discussions that are now underway with major Canadian airlines. Every traveller to Canada over the age of five, including Canadians, must show a negative test result from a PCR or RT-LAMP test administered in the 72 hours before their flight's departure.
Other types of tests, such as rapid antigen tests, will not be accepted, and the government has directed airlines to turn away travellers who do not present a test result at the time of boarding, the company said. As such, the KAI Saliva test kit represents one of the most viable solutions available anywhere.
Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com
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