- UK approval granted for COV19-ID test kit- Fastest test on the market- Commercial progress outside the UKPoint-of-care molecular diagnostics company Genedrive (GDR:AIM) has received approval from the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products regulatory authority for its COV19-ID kit to be marketed and sold in the UK.Under CTDA (Coronavirus Test Device Approvals) regulations introduced in July...

Point of care molecular diagnostics company Genedrive (GDR:AIM) has entered into several distribution agreements for its rapid Covid-19 test-kit. The test, which received CE accreditation in early December 2021, means it can now be sold across Europe.Genedrive shares surged in early trading as investors got very excited about the implied revenue growth potential, the stock jumping as much as...

News of the fresh Omicron variant of Covid put a rocket under biotechnology shares which have pioneered novel mRNA vaccines.Biotechnology firms Moderna and BioNTech surged 21% and 14% respectively when the news broke last Friday (26 Nov) while the share price movements in AstraZeneca (AZN), Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson were far more muted as the table shows.The reason Moderna and BioNTech...

Shares in molecular diagnostics company Genedrive (GDR:AIM) surged 80% higher on Monday to 41.7p after it said it had submitted a new point of care rapid Covid-19 test for approval in Europe.The company said its kit represents a 'step-change' in rapid testing and provides a positive test result within 7.5 minutes and a negative test result with 17 minutes.In relation to the latest variant of...

The successful development of vaccines was a triumph for the world and was for the most part great news for equities too, however it negatively impacted sentiment for one particularly sub-set of the market.The initial excitement surrounding biotechnology companies involved in developing Covid-19 testing kits and treatments for sufferers of coronavirus rapidly evaporated as the focus moved from...

Shares in diagnostics firms Genedrive (GDR:AIM) and Yourgene Health (YGEN:AIM) were in demand on Monday after announcing success with their respective tenders into Public Health England's National Microbiology Framework for diagnostic goods and services.The framework agreement which is worth up to £3 billion opened in November 2020 and sought to appoint suppliers of clinical laboratory...

UK stocks made modest gains in early trading on Monday, edging higher as investors continued to bet on a global economic recovery with vaccine rollouts gathering pace.By 8.32 am, London's FTSE 100 was up 0.06% at 7,023.92 points, consolidating its position above 7,000 as investors balanced reopening optimism with a need to take stock following recent gains, while the FTSE 250 crept 0.26%...

The announcement of second lockdown measures in England gave biotechnology shares involved in Covid-19 testing another a boost with Avacta (AVCT:AIM), Omega Diagnostics (ODX:AIM), Genedrive (GDR:AIM) all registering gains.However these moves were overshadowed by the 110% gain in gene cell engineering company [bold] Horizon Discovery (HZD:AIM) and the 75% gain in blood flow monitoring firm...

The FTSE 100 opened weaker on Friday for a fourth straight day of decline, dropping 0.4% to 6,026 as record spikes of virus infections in Hong Kong and Tokyo fuelled fears of a second wave hitting Asia. In the US death rates hit record levels in the states of Florida, Arizona, Texas and California.Trading across Asia was weak with the Nikkei 225 giving up 1% and China's Shanghai Composite down...

Having delivered some of the best performances in the stock market so far in 2020, biotechnology shares have encountered a brutal correction over the last few weeks.Investors might be feeling bruised after seeing in some cases shares losing over half of their values, while on average they have dropped just over 40% in value from recent highs, as the table shows.Part of this downdraft is...

UK biotechnology shares have provided some of the best returns in the market over the last six months, driven by a plethora of regulatory news about new products aimed at tackling coronavirus.Shareholders are rightly asking whether the strong share price performances have gone too far in relation to the fundamentals, or maybe in some cases have further to run. We will now talk through the...

The FTSE 100 enjoys a positive start to the new trading week, up 0.2% to 7,201. Banks, miners and utility companies all help to drive up the blue chip index.Looking at corporate news, airlines are a key focus with Ryanair (RYA) and EasyJet (EZJ) both updating on their operational and financial performance.Ryanair says its third quarter profit fell 8% to €95m as growth in passengers...