- Blackhawk Growth Corp (CSE:BLR) has purchased the distribution license for a COVID-19 testing kit
- Distribution rights are for Canada, Mexico, Germany, Switzerland and Austria, subject to the requirements of applicable medical regulations in those jurisdictions
- The company submitted the kits for clearance by Health Canada on March 31
- Blackhawk has admitted there is no guarantee of a timely approval, or at all, of the devices
- Blackhawk Growth Corp (BLR) is trading down 16.6 per cent at C$0.50 per share with a market cap of $7.5 million
Blackhawk Growth (CSE:BLR) has purchased the distribution rights for a COVID-19 test kit in Canada, as well as a handful of other countries.
The test kit was submitted to Health Canada for clearance on March 31. The company admitted that clearance for the test kit had not been granted and that “there can be no guarantee that such approval will be granted in a timely fashion, or at all.”
The license agreement gives Blackhawk distribution rights to the devices in Canada, Mexico, Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
The device still has to satisfy the regulatory requirements in those countries before it enters the market as well.
The test kit is a small disposable kit that detects virus-specific antibodies within a few drops of blood from a finger prick. As blood mixes within the test kit with COVID-19 spike proteins, blood containing antibodies fighting coronavirus will form proteins. This will show as purple on the strip.
The results of the test can be obtained within 3 to 15 minutes of administering the test, and the disposable nature of the kits make them very attractive to remote sites such as mines, as well as healthcare professionals, pathology labs and hospitals.
The test kit is developed and manufactured in China by Innovita Biological Technology Co Ltd.
The Beijing medical diagnostic manufacturer is currently in the process of manufacturing and distributing the kits throughout China.
CEO of Blackhawk, Frederick Pels, said the test was revolutionary, as all it requires was a pinprick of blood and a maximum of 15 minutes wait time.
“We recognise that a number of healthcare organisations are struggling to evaluate patients for COVICD-19 due to testing constraints so through this agreement we’re hoping to provide an efficient solution in distributing these tests to people in Canada and parts of Europe and ease the burden on healthcare centres, so they can focus on the highest severity cases.
“Giving people the ability to get tested could have immediate implications for not just the patient, but their family and friends too and it is our mission to do everything we can to help fight this pandemic,” he said.
Blackhawk Growth Corp (BLR) is trading down 16.6 per cent at C$0.50 per share at 2:29pm EST.
