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Midas: Axis-Shield's R&D bears fruit

By Joanne Hart for The Mail on Sunday
Updated: 03:06 EDT, 3 May 2011

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In Britain, medical tests are rarely straightforward. Most blood samples taken at doctors' surgeries are sent away to be analysed and even those taken at hospitals seldom deliver instant results.

But in other parts of the world, immediate results for some conditions are either taken for granted or gaining in popularity, even at the local surgery.

Axis-Shield is at the forefront of instant testing. The company has had an instrument called the Nyco-Card in its armoury since the Nineties.It enables surgeries to test for conditions such as diabetes or flu in front of their patients. The system is reliable and low-cost, but it requires some skill to use, so staff need to be trained.

Since 2000, the company has been working on a fully automated machine that can deliver results quickly and efficiently and can be used by assistants in surgeries or hospitals. Axis spent ten years and £70m developing this instrument, known as Afinion, and the results are just starting to pay off.

The compact machine - about the size of a shoe box - is used for three tests. If someone has a temperature or thinks they are coming down with flu, it tests whether they have a bacterial infection, which needs antibiotics, or a virus, which do not.

This is particularly helpful because overuse of antibiotics is causing resistance among bacteria, leading to the evolution of superbugs, to which hospital patients are highly susceptible.

In Germany, Switzerland and Scandinavia, doctors will not prescribe antibiotics without testing patients first and the Afinion machine helps them to do that in record time. A blood sample is quickly taken from a patient's fingertip, popped into the machine and three minutes later the result comes up on a small screen.

The Afinion kit is also used to monitor blood sugar levels in diabetes sufferers. Diabetes is a growing problem worldwide, but when it is effectively monitored and treated there is only a small risk to patients' health. Left unchecked, however, and it can act as a catalyst for conditions such as heart disease, kidney failure and blindness.

Many people either do not know they have diabetes or do not get it checked regularly enough, at least in part because they cannot be bothered to go to hospital and wait for hours to have a test. The Afinion machine solves that problem as a tiny blood sample can reveal sugar levels for the previous three months.

This is considered so effective, it is being used by healthcare providers in football stadiums and supermarkets to catch the disease early.

The Afinion system is even being used to detect early signs of kidney or heart failure as a result of diabetes, this time using urine samples.

Axis-Shield makes most of its Afinion sales in northern Europe and America and sells the NycoCard machines in emerging markets such as India and China. Last year it made a profit of £7.1m and paid its first dividend of 1p. Brokers forecast profits of about £9m this year rising to at least £12m in 2012.

The dividend should increase too, as chief executive Ian Gilham drives sales of Afinion in existing and new markets. Gilham is also bringing in cholesterol testing this year and hopes eventually to introduce a range of other tests.

Midas verdict: Developing Afinion took longer and cost more than Axis-Shield expected and bringing it to market has been challenging. But the company is heading in the right direction. Testing in the surgery is more efficient for doctors and more appealing to patients so there is every reason to suppose Afinion sales will soar in the next five years. At 312p, the shares are a buy.

Traded on: Main market
Ticker symbol: ASD
Contact: 01382 422 000 or www.axis-shield.com

Ticker: HFG
Contact: 01480 387214 or visit www.hiltonfoodgroupplc.com

MIDAS EXTRA: Idox doubles despite worries

Ever since David Cameron became Prime Minister, there have been concerns about the impact of cuts on firms that supply the public sector. But fears can be misguided.

Idox sells software to help local authorities work more effectively. Midas Extra, our online subscription service, tipped the shares in 2008 at 10 1/2p. Worries about Idox's prospects hit the price last autumn, but we suggested keeping faith. Today the shares are almost 20p.

For more top tips, sign up for Midas Extra www.thisis money.co.uk/midas-extra

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