Late Friday night, the U.S. Food And Drug Administration gave emergency approval to Cepheid’s Xpert Xpress test for coronavirus. The test is the first that can be conducted entirely at point of care for a patient–at a hospital, for instance–without having to send the test to a lab. The test for the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 can deliver results in 45 minutes.
The test runs on Cepheid’s automated GeneXpert Systems with 23,000 systems installed worldwide (5,000 are in the United States.)
Cepheid is a unit of Danaher (DHR). Shares of the parent company were up initially this morning, gaining 7.28% at the open, but then sold off with the general market. Danaher shares finished down 1.95% on the day.
Danaher is a member of my JubakPicks Portfolio. The shares are up 41.68% since I added them to this portfolio on June 20, 2017. I’d have to say the news is a positive for Danaher, but in this market and this economy its just about impossible to calculate how much of a positive either for the stock price or for revenue.
