Abbott Labs Stock Jumps After FDA Approves Its 15-Minute, $5 Coronavirus Test

2020.08.27

https://www.investors.com/news/technology/abt-stock-jumps-fda-ok-quick-cheap-coronavirus-test/?src=A00220&yptr=yahoo

 

미국 애보트랩에서 만든 코로나 감염여부를 15분만에 판별하는 항체진단키트의 FDA 긴급 사용 승인 소식에

퀴델 주가는 21.7% 하락한 174.56달러(시총 73.23억달러, 한화 약 8.78조원)로 마감.

 

이 진단키트는 임신여부를 판별하는 진단키트 같이 쉽게 사용할 수있다고한다.

애보트의 신속 진단키트는 양성자 정확도는 97.1%, 음성자 정확도는 98.5%이라고 한다.

 

하지만 FDA는 항체진단키트는 정확도가 분자진단키트보다 떨어지므로

환자에 처방을 내리기 전에 분자 진단키트로 추가 검사가 필요할지도 모른다고 언급했다.

  

Abbott Laboratories' winning Food and Drug Administration emergency use authorization for an easy-to-perform, 15-minute, $5 coronavirus test sent ABT stock soaring in Thursday trading.

 

Meanwhile, shares of rivals Quest, Co-Diagnostics and Quidel plunged.

Midday Thursday, NBC News reported that the White House had confirmed that President Donald Trump will announce the purchase of 150 million rapid Covid-19 tests as part of a $750 million agreement with Abbott Labs, CNBC reported.

 

Abbott didn't immediately respond to phone calls seeking comment.

The Food and Drug Administration late Wednesday granted approval for the test, which can deliver results in 15 minutes and cost $5.

Abbott Laboratories said it will ship tens of millions of tests in September, ramping to 50 million tests a month at the start of October.

ABT stock jumped 7.9% to 111.29 on the stock market today. Earlier in the session, it notched an all-time high of 114. That topped Wednesday's then-record high of 103.29 for ABT stock.

 

ABT Stock Extended From Buy Zone

The move, however, takes ABT stock out of a buy zone. ABT stock broke out of a flat base at a 100.10 buy point on July 20. Shares are now trading above the 5% chase zone from that breakout.

ABT stock has just about doubled from a two-year low near 61 in late March. Abbott stock sports a IBD Composite Rating of 83, putting it among the top 17% of all stocks.

 

Meanwhile, shares of rival coronavirus test companies plunged. Quidel (QDEL) stock dropped 22% to 174.56 on Thursday. Co-Diagnostics (CODX) stock fell 13.2% to 11.42. And Quest Diagnostics (DGX) stock dropped 7% to 110.01.

That marked a four-month low for CODX stock, a three-month low for QDEL stock and a two-month low for DGX stock.

 

The Abbott coronavirus test is a portable antigen test about the size of a credit card. It detects for Covid-19 infection.

Abbott Coronavirus Test Proved 97%-Plus Accurate

Abbott says its BinaxNOW Covid-19 Ag Card has proved 98.5% accurate in determining if patients do not have Covid-19 and 97.1% accurate on positive cases. The test uses a nasal swab.

 

Results can be read directly from a testing card, similar to some pregnancy tests, the FDA said. One line indicates a negative result; two lines indicate a positive result.

"Given the simple nature of this test, it is likely that these tests could be made broadly available," the FDA said in granting emergency use authorization for the test.

Along with the test, Abbott will issue a free mobile app, called Navica. It will let people who test negative display that result to others. The app will make it easier for businesses and organizations to know that a person is not infected with Covid-19.

Coronavirus Test Can Restore 'A Bit More Normalcy'

"BinaxNOW and the Navica app give us an affordable, easy-to-use, scalable test, and a complementary digital health tool to help us have a bit more normalcy in our daily lives," Abbott CEO Robert Ford said in a press release.

 

However, the FDA pointed out that in general, antigens are not as sensitive as molecular test. As a result, doctors might need to confirm negative results from this antigen test with a molecular test before making any treatment decisions.

"This new Covid-19 antigen test is an important addition to available tests because the results can be read in minutes, right off the testing card," Dr. Jeff Shuren in a statement. He is director of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health.

He called it "an important advancement in our fight against the pandemic."

This is at least the fourth antigen test to get FDA emergency use authorization. An antigen test can quickly detect fragments of proteins found on or within a virus by testing samples collected from the patient's nasal cavity using swabs.

Credit Suisse analyst Matt Miksic maintained an outperform rating and 109 price target on ABT stock. "We believe it (the test) could be an important element to help reopen schools and key segments of the U.S. economy," he wrote in a research note.