Abingdon Health plc (AIM: ABDX), a leading international developer and manufacturer of high quality and effective rapid tests, notes recent bulletin board speculation and the rise in its share price.
The Company confirms that it has reached a settlement agreement with the Department for Health and Social Care (“DHSC") on the outstanding invoices payable by DHSC for lateral flow tests and component stock.
The Company notes that the settlement agreement only technically completes as and when the cash payment referred to below is received.
The settlement agreement is in full and final settlement of the outstanding debt of £8.9m (excluding interest) and comprises:
- A contractually required cash payment of £6.3m from DHSC to Abingdon, which is required to be paid to the Company on or before 22 July 2022; £1.5m of this cash payment will be held under charge until the outcome of the judicial review is known; and
- transfer to the Company of ownership of the outstanding component stock that it had procured on behalf of DHSC in 2020/1; and
- joint-ownership, alongside DHSC, of the intellectual property of the AbC-19™ COVID-19 antibody test; and
- a lower royalty payable to DHSC on sales of the AbC-19™ COVID-19 antibody test, with this royalty time limited to one year from the date of the settlement agreement.
The monies received from DHSC, once received, will provide additional working capital and be deployed to help fund the Company’s various growth initiatives underway.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR.
Enquiries:
| Abingdon Health plc | www.abingdonhealth.com/investors/ | ||
| Chris Yates, Chief Executive Officer | Via Walbrook PR | ||
| Melanie Ross, Chief Financial Officer | |||
| Dr Chris Hand, Non-Executive Chairman | |||
| Singer Capital Markets (Sole Broker and Nominated Adviser) | Tel: +44 (0)20 7496 3000 | ||
| Peter Steel, Alex Bond (Corporate Finance) | |||
| Tom Salvesen (Corporate Broking) | |||
| Walbrook PR Limited | Tel: +44 (0)20 7933 8780 or [email protected] | ||
| Paul McManus / Phillip Marriage | Mob: +44 (0)7980 541 893 / +44 (0)7867 984 082 | ||
| Alice Woodings | Mob: +44 (0)7407 804 654 | ||
About Abingdon Health plc
Abingdon Health is a world leading developer and manufacturer of high-quality rapid tests across all industry sectors, including healthcare and COVID-19. Abingdon is the partner of choice for a growing global customer base and takes projects from initial concept through to routine and large-scale manufacturing and has also developed and marketed its own labelled tests.
The Company offers product development, regulatory support, technology transfer and manufacturing services for customers looking to develop new assays or transfer existing laboratory-based assays to a lateral flow format. Abingdon Health aims to support the increase in need for rapid results across many industries and locations and produces lateral flow tests in areas such as infectious disease, clinical testing including companion diagnostics, animal health and environmental testing. Faster access to results allows for rapid decision making, targeted intervention and can support better outcomes. This ability has a significant role to play in improving life across the world. To support this aim Abingdon Health has also developed AppDx®, a customisable image capturing technology that transforms a smartphone into a self-sufficient, standalone lateral-flow reader.
Founded in 2008, Abingdon Health is headquartered in York, England.
For more information visit: www.abingdonhealth.com
