Omega strikes Food Detective exclusive Indian agreement

SCOTTISH medical testing kit maker Omega Diagnostics has struck an exclusive distribution agreement in India and other deals are thought to be in the pipeline in the US and Japan.

The Alva-based group said it had signed a deal with its existing Indian marketing partner Thermo Fisher Scientific India for its Food Detective product which is a diagnostic testing kit for food intolerance.

Andrew Shepherd, chief executive of Omega, said the deal "expands our successful business relationship in this strategic market for the company". India accounts for eight per cent of group sales.

The deal comes a week after Aim-listed Omega announced a "transformational" deal under which it will buy part of German peer Allergopharma and expand into the allergy testing market.

The Food Detective has recently been approved by the Indian authorities so marketing and sale can begin immediately.

The Scotsman understands Omega is close to similar distribution deals for its products in America, where it has a tiny presence, and Japan, where it is not represented.

Analysts see those countries as two of the biggest food intolerance and allergy markets in the world, and it is thought distribution deals could be announced as early as next month.

However, in America, in particular, any deals signed would be likely to have to wait on several months of tests by the Food and Drugs Administration before selling of products could go ahead.

It came as Omega revealed that underlying pre-tax profit rose 53 per cent to 403,000 in the six months to end-September compared with 263,000 in the same period last year.

Revenues were up 15 per cent to 3.3m against 2.9m last time. Omega's shares closed up 6 per cent, or 1p, at 17.5p.