Becton, Dickinson and Company (BDX) has announced that the Dutch Ministry of Health has ordered 9.2 million of its rapid, point-of-care, SARS-CoV-2 antigen tests for use on the BD Veritor Plus System, which detects SARS-CoV-2 in symptomatic patients in approximately 15 minutes.
The first 1.2 million units will be delivered by mid-November.
This is the first government contract in Europe for this test which was CE marked to the IVD Directive (98/79/EC) in September. The Dutch Ministry of Health increased its initial order by 8 million assays to improve testing capacity. BD expects the order to be fulfilled by June 2021.
“We’re proud to be working with the Dutch Ministry of Health to expand rapid testing for SARS-CoV-2. This test will be critical to aid rapid diagnosis and decision making,” says Fernand Goldblat of BD. “This rapid game-changing test is the latest effort in BD’s comprehensive response to address the world’s critical health needs during the global pandemic.”
The BD Veritor Plus System is already in use across Europe to detect Influenza A+B, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), and Group A Strep.
Meanwhile, the SARS-CoV-2 assay has been available in the US since July through an Emergency Use Authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
One of the largest global med-tech companies in the world, BDX stock is currently trading down 15% year-to-date. It has a cautiously optimistic Moderate Buy Street consensus with 4 recent buy ratings vs 3 hold ratings.
The average analyst price target stands at $275, indicating 15% upside potential lies ahead.
Encouragingly, Goldman Sachs analyst Amit Hazan recently placed Becton Dickinson on the firm’s Conviction Buy list. His buy rating now comes with a price target of $279, up from $278 previously. According to the analyst, BDX’s recent underperformance translates into an “improved buying opportunity that we don’t often see.”
He expects “key product issues to dissipate” and anticipates upside from COVID testing, while ultimately a broader recovery should improve Becton’s procedure based sales lines along with peers. (See BDX stock analysis on TipRanks)
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