Aytu BioScience, Inc. (NASDAQ: AYTU) has been one of the biggest winners from COVID-19. In fact Aytu stock is up about 69% year to date. As the demand for COVID-19 tests increases, this company will continue to benefit.
Aytu BioScience is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on commercializing novel products in the field of hypogonadism (low testosterone), cough and upper respiratory symptoms, insomnia, and male infertility.
The company has only recently branched out from these fields into the COVID-19 testing business. As many investors have seen, COVID-19 is a very lucrative business, whether it is testing or treatment. In fact, the stock of one company, FSD Pharma, tripled on an FDA approval tied to COVID-19.
Demand for testing is still rising as the total number of COVID-19 cases in the United States has reached above 1.87 million. Other companies benefiting from this include Quest Diagnostics Inc. (NYSE: DGX), Becton, Dickinson and Co. (NYSE: BDX), and Co-Diagnostics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CODX).
Sterling Deal
Late in April, Aytu BioScience signed a development agreement with Sterling Medical Devices to finalize the Healight platform technology. Basically, this is a novel endotracheal catheter that emits ultraviolet light and is a potential treatment for the coronavirus.
Ultimately, Aytu BioScience believes that the Healight platform technology will positively affect outcomes for critically ill patients with coronavirus and other infections. The company, with support from Cedars-Sinai, is working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to determine an expedited regulatory process for Healight. The goal is to enable near-term use of the technology, initially as a coronavirus intervention for critically ill intubated patients.
Other Deals
On April 23, Aytu announced a licensing agreement with Singapore-based Biolidics for the exclusive U.S. distribution rights to Biolidics’s COVID-19 IgG/IgM Rapid Test. As a result, the Denver-based company purchased 500,000 tests immediately and committed to purchasing at least 1.25 million more in the first three months of the agreement.
Aytu had previously received 100,000 test kits on April 1. The Denver Police Department purchased the first 2,750 of these, intending to use them to screen the city’s first responders. On April 15, Aytu said it had sold out all 100,000 tests and was awaiting delivery of more.
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