Akers Bioscience wins first China order for heparin test

The order is for Akers' handheld PIFA heparin allergy tests, which in November gained approval from the China Food and Drug Administration and will be exclusively sold and marketed in China by Beijing-based Novotek.

With around 12m patients estimated to be prescribed heparin in China and an average of around 1-5% of patients developing the heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) for which the PIFA assays are designed to test, analysts estimated the potential demand stood at up to 0.6m tests per year.

"The China FDA's approval of our test paves the way for Akers Bio and NovoTek to establish the PIFA Heparin/PF4 Rapid Assay devices as the gold standard for HIT testing throughout China," said executive chairman Raymond Akers.

"Our partner, NovoTek, is developing a complete solution to manage HIT in the Chinese healthcare system by having the exclusive licenses both for our test as well as for a treatment for those patients who have been diagnosed with HIT."

House broker FinnCap said that, against a sales base of roughly $4m the China order was "substantial".

The broker explained that the order was expected to be fulfilled in tranches throughout 2016 with first sales anticipated prior to the end of the first quarter.

Shares in Akers were up 13% to 110p by late afternoon on Wednesday, according to data from the London Stock Exchange.