Empower Clinics Inc (CSE:CBDT) (OTCQB:EPWCF) (FRA:8EC) announced Monday that its KAI Medical Laboratory reached the milestone of 1,000 coronavirus (COVID-19) tests processed in one day last month and is now generating an annual revenue run rate of more than C$10 million.
The company said it has seen specimen collection volumes grow in both January and February, with the latter delivering month-over-month growth of 27%.
Additionally, the debut of Empower’s KAI Saliva PCR Test achieved an initial soft launch of 5,000 units, leading to an order of 25,000 additional units with a sales value of around C$5.5 million on January 7, the company said. It now anticipates placing an order for 50,000 additional KAI Saliva units with a retail sales value of around C$11 million to build inventory sufficient for the current demand in both the US and Canada.
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The company acquired the state-of-the-art diagnostics laboratory last October to further advance the company's COVID-19 national testing programs for enterprise clients, including movie and television studios, businesses and the travel industry. The company said the lab experienced significant growth in its first-quarter under the company (October 2020 to December 2020), with COVID-19 test units exceeding 6,000 specimens processed, far surpassing the less than 1,000 total monthly units prior to acquisition.
As a result, the company announced in January that it would double the size of its KAI LAB to ramp up testing, then amended that in February to announce it would triple the size instead. Now in March, expansion work is commencing, allowing the lab to hire additional staff across a variety of roles.
"Kai Medical Laboratory with the leadership of Yoshi Tyler have surpassed our initial growth forecasts, have demonstrated disciplined work ethic, a focus on science with a passion for operational excellence." CEO Steven McAuley said in a statement. "Kai Medical is developing into a national brand with the potential to positively impact healthcare outcomes by providing access to numerous testing protocols that go beyond COVID-19 in the future."
For the purposes of facilitating the expansion, Empower has secured additional space next door to KAI LAB to separate the lab and science from logistics, admin and customer support, the company said. Materials handling staff is being added to process the intake of thousands of packages per day.
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