5/7/2023 0 Comments Moneyworks express.![]() ![]() But he expects overseas sales will drive the company's revenue within the next two quarters and beyond. Oyakawa declined to disclose revenues from these new markets. Since Oyakawa came on board, the company has raised $12.5 million from London-based investment firm Marr Group, which it has used to gain regulatory approval to sell into Botswana, Uganda and China. A rapid urine test, which provides immediate results, has many advantages over existing urine tests, which must be sent to a laboratory for analysis and typically take three days to a week for results. Oyakawa aims to shift the company into revenue mode by expanding its distribution channels outside the United States and quickly commercializing a rapid version of its existing products. Since the changes, Calypte's stock (OTCBB: CYPT) has increased 1,100 percent from 12 cents in early July to $1.46 at press time. Jay Oyakawa stepped in as president and COO, while former chairman Anthony Cataldo became CEO. Former president and CEO Nancy Katz left in June. In severely inflicted countries, such as South Africa, children beg on roadsides for HIV "cocktail" drugs.Ĭalypte is now readying to serve these growing markets.įacing mounting losses and unable to maintain its stock listing on the Nasdaq Stock Market, the company saw a management shake-up and a reverse stock split earlier in the year. In 2001, an estimated 40 million people were living with HIV and AIDS, not including an estimated 200,000 Americans who don't know they are infected. And since HIV takes many years, sometimes decades, to become full-blown AIDS, health officials struggle to accurately depict the extent of the HIV epidemic. Actual HIV infection rates are unknown, since most of the world's population has not been tested. "Compared to a blood-based test, the differentiation in pricing isn't even comparable," says Miller, who says an average blood-based test costs $150 compared with Calypte's $2 urine test.įor Calypte, the overseas market likely will be its mainstay. They also can be administered by anyone and are more affordable than other products, he says. Unlike blood-based tests, urine-based tests can be easily disposed of, without risk of contamination. ![]() He says urine-based tests make widespread HIV testing viable for the first time. Miller is an independent consultant and owns no Calypte stock. But Calypte has done a 180 ," says David Miller, co-chair of the Cornell-Columbia AIDS Clinical Trial Group's Community Advisory Board, which is sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. "They used to have a story that was typical for many biotechs: Good drug, bad management. It is now forging ahead with a global strategy and readying to commercialize a new, rapid-version of its urine-based tests, which is expected to become its lead product within a year. Alameda-based Calypte resumed production in June. However, earlier this year, the company ran out of money and stopped manufacturing products.īut that's all changed. Food and Drug Administration in 19, respectively, the company's revenue has been driven by sales to life-insurance companies and blood banks in the United States. Since Calypte's products were approved by the U.S. Typically, tests for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which causes AIDS, rely on blood samples. The 15-year-old company makes the only two FDA-approved HIV tests that rely on urine samples (an initial test and a follow-up test). This comes just months after its products were approved in Uganda and China. ![]() is heading toward profitability by entering new markets overseas, where demand is the highest for its urine-based HIV tests.Īrmed with a new strategy and leadership team, the company last week received approval for its products to be used in Kenya. Within months of returning from the poorhouse, Calypte Biomedical Corp. ![]()
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