TruScreen to test 130,000 Chinese oil workers, expects $1.1 million in sales

NZAX-listed TruScreen, the cervical cancer test developer, has been selected by Chinese oil company Sinopec to screen 130,000 of its female workers, in a deal which could be worth $1.1 million in sales. 

The first order for 8,100 single use sensor tests, worth $74,000, has been received and the screening programme is expected to run until the end of next year, the Auckland-based company said in a statement. The deal with Sinopec, one of China’s largest oil and petroleum product producers, is a joint initiative with its Shengli Oil Field in the Shandong province and Beijing SiweiXiangtai Tech Co, TruScreen’s principal Chinese distributor. 

The company plans to ramp up manufacturing of its single use sensors as it targets China, where it recently won regulatory approval from the China Food and Drug Administration and sees the cervical screening market to be worth $1 billion annually. TruScreen has entered into a joint initiative with the China Doctors Association and Beijing SiweiXiangtai to run a screening programme covering 100,000 people in 100 hospitals over the next 12 to 14 months.

TruScreen shares rose 6 percent to 26.5 cents and have gained 69 percent since the start of the year. 

The company joined the NZAX last November in a compliance listing, having already raised $6.07 million in the lead-up to going public. That private placement was to acquire the intellectual property and assets of the business and provide working capital to fund commercialisation of its product.

Earlier this week the company said it was looking to raise up to $1 million via a share purchase plan, offering shares at 25 cents a piece, after it raised $3.27 million from institutional and eligible shareholders last month, short of its $4 million upper target but above its $3 million minimum.

(BusinessDesk)