Shares in Trinity Biotech, the Bray-based biotechnology group, gained 10.64 per cent on the Nasdaq exchange in New York following news that the company had received clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market an automated procedure designed to assess the likelihood of patients developing coronary heart disease.
The stock finished the day at $3.25, rising by 31 cents after opening at $2.94.
This means Trinity's stock has more than doubled in value on the Nasdaq since the start of the year, where it was trading at about $1.5 at the beginning of the month.
The share did not trade on the Dublin exchange yesterday, where it was valued at €2.05.
Yesterday's announcement follows news of FDA approval for another Trinity product on January 5th. The company also raised more than $11 million (€10.9 million) in new financing through the sale and lease-back of its property in Bray, Co Wicklow, for $5.85 million and the issue of a $3.5 million debenture and new shares worth $2 million.
The new product cleared by the FDA is a test designed for use on automated systems. Known as Macra
Lp(a) assay, the test measures particular proteins present in fat cells identified as a significant risk factor in the development of coronary heart disease.
The procedure, which will be distributed by New York firm Wam pole Laboratories, had already received clearance for use in manual testing.
NCB stockbrokers predicted that annual revenues from the automated procedure should reach $4$5 million, "conservatively" exceeding revenues from the manual test by four or five times. The Dublin brokers estimate that sales from the manual test generated $1 million in revenues last year, 2 per cent of the firm's turnover.
Trinity acquired the procedure from Delaware-based firm Strategic Diagnostics in September 1998 for an undisclosed sum.
The company's chairman and chief executive, Mr Ronan O Caoimh, expects the market for automated systems to grow rapidly. This was "considerably larger" than the manual tests market and the clearance improved the selling opportunities for the test. Some 14 million Americans had coronary heart disease, he added.
Trinity's latest results showed a 71 per cent rise in after-tax profit to more than $1.2 million in the third quarter to September 30th, 1999. Earnings per share grew by 54 per cent to 4.3 cents.
