Healthcare firm’s shares jump following deal to supply Boots with at-home Covid tests

Shares in a Cardiff-based home-testing healthcare company leapt after it signed a deal to supply Boots with at-home Covid-19 tests.

MyHealthChecked has entered into an agreement with Boots to launch the MyHealthChecked Covid-19 at-home nasal swab kit and PCR laboratory testing service in Boots stores across Great Britain and its website.

The general testing and pre-travel service will be launched online at Boots shortly and will also be available at 507 Boots stores in England, Wales and Scotland from April.

The MyHealthChecked Covid-19 testing kit allows customers to take a nasal swab themselves at home and send samples safely and securely via the Royal Mail Tracked 24 service to be tested using established laboratory-based PCR detection methods. Testing is undertaken at the Manchester-based laboratories of MyHealthChecked and Yourgene Health and results are provided within 24-48 hours, via an online portal.

The Agreement is expected to have a significant impact on the future performance of the MHC business, which is based at The Maltings business hub in the Welsh capital. and while volumes are unquantified at this stage, the company believes it is likely to result in substantial revenue growth in the current financial year ending December 31, 2021.

Penny McCormick, chief executive officer of MyHealthChecked, said: “We are delighted to finalise this agreement with Boots which offers their customers a gold standard lab-based PCR testing service for COVID-19 with a sample collection kit that can be used at home.

“As the nation anticipates a potential ability to travel this year with less restrictions, we may see accurate Covid-19 PCR testing becoming a travel essential, and we have ensured a good capacity level to respond to market demand. A further area for customer consideration is the discomfort that can be involved with nasopharyngeal or throat swabs. Our service resolves this by using a gentle nasal swab that doesn’t compromise the accuracy of the test, providing a more comfortable customer experience.

“It is also a testament to the service and our partners involved in the provision of these kits and the testing service itself that this deal concludes after months of careful due diligence by Boots. We know that the quality and accuracy of this service is second to none and this agreement is a highly credible endorsement of that.”

The Manchester-based Yourgene is to act as the company’s exclusive external provider of Testing Services. The minimum testing volume is 200 tests per week and 800 tests per calendar month for the first three months from the Testing Services start date. As Adam Reynolds, MyHealthChecked Chairman, and Lyn Rees, non-executive director, are both directors of Yourgene and the agreementd has been treated as a related party transaction under the AIM Rules for Companies.