Canada’s approval of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine shines an additional light at the end of the long pandemic tunnel. The single-dose shot is the fourth kind approved in the North American nation. J&J (NYSE: JNJ) thus joins Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) and AstraZeneca (NASDAQ: AZN) as Canada’s approved providers.
While the national vaccination campaign has started, provision is lagging. The lack of domestic production slowed down the government’s immunization efforts, and could ultimately hurt the country’s competitive position in the global economic landscape.
Canada’s health guidelines leave its companies at greater risk of losing work hours and shutting down due to insufficient or untimely testing when compared to those enforced by U.S. authorities.
Just last week, a Brampton Amazon warehouse was shut down due to a covid-19 outbreak. 5,000 workers were ordered to quarantine.
“People can’t work as easily together if they are looking over their shoulder in case someone has COVID,” said Darryl Spector, president of Promation - a robotics engineering and automation manufacturing firm - as part of a Reuters feature on the issue.
Canadians find themselves in dire need of solutions to prevent another year of uncertainty and losses. Large-scale testing solutions tailored to corporations and large operations fit the bill, and are gaining strong traction as an option to ensure a safe return to the workplace. Two Canadian endeavors tackling the issue head-on are ScreenPro Security Ltd. and Empower Clinics Inc.
Large-scale testing within reach
Empower Clinics Inc. (CSE: CBDT) is a medical cannabis clinic owner and operator. They also develop medical marijuana products for the US and Canadian markets. The company runs health and wellness clinics in Canada. In them, they provide preventative, diagnostic and treatment services. To that end, they acquired the Kai Medical Laboratory in late 2020.
The acquisition positioned Empower to provide testing for the novel coronavirus - as Kai Medical Laboratory can execute and process a RT-PCR Covid-19 test, an Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoassay, an antibody test for Covid-19 and a variety of other toxicology and hormone tests. The lab has now effectively changed its focus towards the ongoing pandemic.
On the other hand, ScreenPro Security Ltd. (CSE: SCRN) is a Toronto-based turnkey coronavirus screening solutions provider. Focused specifically on covid-19 testing for the private sector, ScreenPro’s strategic partnerships with labs and providers allows the company to provide full-service testing solutions across the entire Canadian territory. Aside from testing, SCRN offers its clients high-quality personal protective equipment (PPE) provision.
ScreenPro managed to secure a supply line during the pandemic, effectively becoming a full-fledged end-to-end service provider. The company has nursing professionals at the ready, 7 days a week.
Their lab partnerships with Canvas Labs and Integrated Exploration, in BC and ON respectively, are further leveraged by exclusivity agreements and additional testing capacity if needed through SCRN-owned lab equipment.
Results that reflect well-crafted business models
Empower’s new focus has allowed it to process impressive amounts of tests, reaching over 1,000 processed tests in a single day for the first time during the past February. CBDT’s annual revenue currently exceeds US$ 10 million.
Part of the company’s recent success stems from Kai Lab’s PCR tests being validated for accurate detection of the South African and U.K. variants of the virus.
Increasing demand has forced the company to invest in expanding Kai Medical Laboratory to 3x its current size. The facility will expand in anticipation of a forecasted rise in testing needs for late Q1 2021.
Empower Clinics Chairman & CEO, Steven McAuley stated “.When we first acquired KAI Medical Laboratory just over four months ago, it was processing less than 1,000 specimens monthly up to that point. Today, we are announcing that KAI has surpassed 1,000 units in a day for the first time ever….We are just getting started.”
Lately, ScreenPro has been making headlines: the company recorded $5 million in revenue for February, with weekly revenue from Toronto and Vancouver hovering around $1.2 million. The amount corresponds to roughly 12,000 tests per week.
John McMullen, SCRN CEO, commented as part of the press release: "This has been a very busy time for ScreenPro and I am very pleased for our company to be listed on the CSE. I want to thank all who were involved in making this possible. Our company processes almost 50,000 screens per month. In February alone, monthly revenue achieved $5 million for testing within the film and television industry in Canada. Going forward, we are looking to diversify our business into a full suite of pandemic management related products and services to ensure the safety of the workplace and get people back to work."
Besides the local success, ScreenPro has been approved by the UK government to compete in the NHS London UK Supply Tender, through a partnership with the British health care provider Enoura Medical. This places the Canadian endeavor in a privileged position to compete for the CA$1.574bn tender – which comprehends roughly two years of testing for London residents alone.
Both companies have come up with massively valuable and necessary solutions during a once-in-a-lifetime global landscape, with ScreenPro seeming like the value investing option between them. Being a covid-focused-only company, one may perceive it carries less bloat while providing a very similar yet more comprehensive service – and the company’s valuation is yet to reflect it, with stock prices sitting at CA$ 0.80.
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