What happened
Meridian Bioscience (VIVO) was a healthcare sector standout on Wednesday. Since any participation in the fight against the coronavirus is welcome, investors were pleased with the company's announcement that it is supplying reagents for peer diagnostics company QuantuMDx on the latter's most-recent COVID-19 test.
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So what
Meridian has garnered attention lately because one of its reagents is being used in a number of different tests for the coronavirus.
The great advantage of this reagent is that it is extremely stable, and thus can be easily stored and readily used when necessary. In other words, it is ideal for situations in which testing has to be conducted quickly and/or remotely, as is the case with much coronavirus testing now.
Meridian's profile has surged since the early days of the outbreak. It now has to be considered a "coronavirus stock" because its goods are being used by over 35 diagnostic companies around the globe for testing during the pandemic, according to its latest press release. QuantuMDx is only the latest one.
Now what
Meridian's solid position on the market positions it well; it's more than likely that other companies will sign on for the reagent used in coronavirus testing, and existing clients will keep coming back. In the press release, Meridian quoted QuantuMDx as saying that "[w]e look forward to our on-going partnership with Meridian not only during this period of great urgency, but also on future products in our assay pipeline."
