Quidel Corporation Statement on President Trump’s Announcement of Coronavirus Testing Strategy
Quidel Corporation (NASDAQ: QDEL) supports the U.S. Administration's initiative to provide COVID-19 rapid tests to school children. The company is ramping up production of its Sofia® rapid antigen tests, currently at two million tests per week, with plans to double this capacity. The aim is to reach a production run-rate of over 220 million tests per year by July 2021. Quidel's Sofia® tests are made in America, and the company emphasizes the importance of collaboration within the medical diagnostics industry during the pandemic.
- Production of Sofia® rapid antigen tests doubled to two million tests per week.
- Plans to further increase capacity to over 220 million tests per year by July 2021.
- Quidel supports government initiatives to ensure COVID-19 testing for school children.
- None.
SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Quidel Corporation (NASDAQ: QDEL) (“Quidel”), a provider of rapid diagnostic testing solutions, cellular-based virology assays and molecular diagnostic systems, issued the following statement supporting the Administration’s plans to provide COVID-19 rapid tests to school children.
“Quidel Corporation welcomes President Trump’s announcement that the Administration will direct millions of Abbott’s visually read antigen tests for use in safeguarding K-12 school children as they return to America’s classrooms. In this pandemic, the medical diagnostics industry is competing against COVID-19, not among companies. The need for testing seems virtually unlimited at this point in time. So, while Quidel continues our aggressive efforts to ramp production of our own rapid antigen tests, we appreciate the contributions of others and the leadership of the Trump Administration in clarifying how the special needs of school children will be addressed. Today’s announcement gives us greater certainty in confirming our commitments to existing customers and greater flexibility to serve additional markets as our production capacity expands.
“Quidel recently doubled our production of Sofia® rapid antigen tests to the current rate of approximately two million tests per week. We are constructing additional production lines that will more than double our current capacity once again. Our goal is to reach a run-rate of over 220 million tests per year by July of 2021.
“We are proud of the commitment demonstrated by our Quidel team since the first day we started developing our PCR and antigen tests for COVID-19. Our people have been so dedicated and their ability to speed and scale production has been extraordinary. It is noteworthy that all of Quidel’s Sofia® SARS Antigen test kits are made in America -- at our manufacturing facility near our corporate headquarters in San Diego.”
Background Information:
Quidel was the first company to receive EUA from the FDA for a rapid antigen test that delivers results in 15 minutes.
Sofia® 2 is Quidel’s best-selling cartridge-based rapid diagnostic system for infectious disease testing, which utilizes fluorescent chemistry design, an intuitive graphical user interface, and optics system to provide a highly accurate, objective and automated result in 15 minutes. The Sofia® 2 system also comes connected to Virena®, Quidel’s data management system, which provides aggregated, de-identified testing data to public health authorities in near real-time.
About Quidel Corporation
Quidel Corporation serves to enhance the health and well-being of people around the globe through the development of diagnostic solutions that can lead to improved patient outcomes and provide economic benefits to the healthcare system. Marketed under the Sofia®, QuickVue®, D3® Direct Detection, Thyretain®, Triage® and InflammaDry® leading brand names, as well as under the new Solana®, AmpliVue® and Lyra® molecular diagnostic brands, Quidel’s products aid in the detection and diagnosis of many critical diseases and conditions, including, among others, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, Strep A, lyme, herpes, pregnancy, thyroid disease and fecal occult blood. Quidel's Triage® system of tests comprises a comprehensive test menu that provides rapid, cost-effective treatment decisions at the point-of-care (POC), offering a diverse immunoassay menu in a variety of tests to provide diagnostic answers for quantitative BNP, CK-MB, d-dimer, myoglobin, troponin I and qualitative TOX Drug Screen. Quidel’s research and development engine is also developing a continuum of diagnostic solutions from advanced immunoassay to molecular diagnostic tests to further improve the quality of healthcare in physicians’ offices and hospital and reference laboratories. For more information about Quidel’s comprehensive product portfolio and to explore exciting employment opportunities, visit quidel.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws that involve material risks, assumptions and uncertainties. Many possible events or factors could affect our future financial results and performance, such that our actual results and performance may differ materially from those that may be described or implied in the forward-looking statements. As such, no forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Differences in actual results and performance may arise as a result of a number of factors including, without limitation: the impact of the novel virus (COVID-19) global pandemic; an inability to agree on a definitive agreement or meet key deliverables and milestones under the NIH’s RADx-ATP contract; adverse changes in competitive conditions, the reimbursement system currently in place and future changes to that system, changes in economic conditions in our domestic and international markets, lower than anticipated market penetration of our products, our reliance on sales of our influenza and COVID-19 diagnostic tests, fluctuations in our operating results resulting from the timing of the onset, length and severity of cold and flu seasons, seasonality, government and media attention focused on influenza and other respiratory or novel viruses and the related potential impact on humans from such viruses, the quantity of our product in our distributors’ inventory or distribution channels, changes in the buying patterns of our distributors, and changes in the healthcare market and consolidation of our customer base; our development, acquisition and protection of proprietary technology rights; our development of new technologies, products and markets; our reliance on a limited number of key distributors; our exposure to claims and litigation that could result in significant expenses and could ultimately result in an unfavorable outcome for us, including the ongoing litigation between us and Beckman Coulter, Inc.; intellectual property risks, including but not limited to, infringement litigation; our need for additional funds to finance our capital or operating needs; the financial soundness of our customers and suppliers; acceptance of our products among physicians and other healthcare providers; competition with other providers of diagnostic products; failures or delays in receipt of new product reviews or related to currently-marketed products by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”) or other regulatory authorities or loss of any previously received regulatory approvals or clearances or other adverse actions by regulatory authorities; changes in government policies; costs of and adverse operational impact from failure to comply with government regulations in addition to FDA regulations; compliance with government regulations relating to the handling, storage and disposal of hazardous substances; third-party reimbursement policies and potential cost constraints; our failure to comply with laws and regulations relating to billing and payment for healthcare services; our ability to meet demand for our products; interruptions or shortages in our supply of raw materials and other components; product defects; business risks not covered by insurance; costs and disruptions from failures in our information technology and storage systems; our exposure to data corruption, cyber-based attacks, security breaches and privacy violations; competition for and loss of management and key personnel; international risks, including but not limited to, compliance with product registration requirements, compliance with legal requirements, tariffs, exposure to currency exchange fluctuations and foreign currency exchange risk, longer payment cycles, lower selling prices and greater difficulty in collecting accounts receivable, reduced protection of intellectual property rights, social, political and economic instability, increased financial accounting and reporting burdens and complexities, taxes, and diversion of lower priced international products into U.S. markets; changes in tax rates and exposure to additional tax liabilities or assessments; risks relating to our acquisition and integration of the Triage MeterPro Cardiovascular and toxicology business and B-type Natriuretic Peptide assay business; that we may have to write off goodwill relating to our acquisitions; our ability to manage our growth strategy and identify and integrate acquired companies or technologies and our ability to obtain financing; the level of our indebtedness and deferred payment obligations; our ability to generate sufficient cash to meet our debt service and deferred and contingent payment obligations; that our Revolving Credit Facility is secured by substantially all of our assets; the agreements for our indebtedness place operating and financial restrictions on us and our ability to operate our business; that an event of default could trigger acceleration of our outstanding indebtedness; that we may incur additional indebtedness; increases in interest rate relating to our variable rate debt; dilution resulting from future sales of our equity; volatility in our stock price; provisions in our charter documents, Delaware law and the indenture governing our Convertible Senior Notes that might delay or impede stockholder actions with respect to business combinations or similar transactions; our intention of not paying dividends; and our ability to identify and successfully acquire and integrate potential acquisition targets. Forward-looking statements typically are identified by the use of terms such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “might,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “plan,” “intend,” “goal,” “project,” “strategy,” “future,” and similar words, although some forward-looking statements are expressed differently. The risks described in reports and registration statements that we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) from time to time, should be carefully considered. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect management’s analysis only as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to publicly release the results of any revision or update of these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
