Omega Diagnostics hit by allergy kit delay

Medical testing kit maker Omega Diagnostics said yesterday that delays in preparing one of its products for market had brought its financial expectation for the year into question.

The Alva-based firm said its programme to develop an allergy test to be run on an automated system known as IDS-iSYS would require longer to reach a level at which the product could be manufactured consistently.

“Recent experiments have provided data suggesting we will need more time to achieve this aim and it is prudent and correct that we maintain high standards of development protocol in reaching our goals,” it said. It is also struggling to find enough samples for the test, and estimated that the combined effect of the two matters could postpone the planned launch date for a product by up to nine months, taking it to the end of next year.

The firm also said the weaker euro, which is affecting the value of sales in Germany, had cost it £200,000 in the six months to the end of September. Revenues for the half-year are now expected to be in line with the same period in 2011 at £5.5 million.

The group said that, allowing for the negative exchange rate move, its half-year results would be in line with management expectations. It said meeting City expectations in the second half was now dependant on generating a contribution from its new CD4 test for monitoring patients with HIV or Aids, which it believes could be transformational for the company.

Omega previewed the CD4 test, which does not need to be sent to a lab for analysis, at the 19th International Aids Conference in Washington DC in July.

It said the test “generated a significant amount of interest at the conference from global aid organisations and major companies active in the HIV/Aids arena”. It added: “Feedback received subsequently supports the view that the opportunity for this product could be transformational to the group’s prospects in the near term.”

The firm is scaling up production plans to meet the anticipated demand and is in discussions with lenders to finance the move.

In a separate announcement yesterday, Omega said it had signed an exclusive agreement with Indian company Super Religare Laboratories (SRL) for the distribution of its Food Detective product throughout India.

SRL has a network of more than 200 laboratories and over 1,300 collection centres.

Andrew Shepherd, chief executive of Omega, said: “We are very pleased to be working with SRL, the most prominent laboratory network in India.

“Food Detective has great potential in India, where there is increasing awareness around health and well-being amongst a growing middle-class population with rising levels of disposable income.”

Food Detective is the company’s consumer-facing product that can test a person’s reaction against 59 common food types. The product has been approved for use in India and has been adapted for that market.