Hong Seng to acquire 51% stake in RZAC Immunesafe for RM40.3 million
Hong Seng Consolidated Berhad (“Hong Seng” or the “Group”) announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary HS Bio Sdn Bhd, formerly known as HS Bio Supplies Sdn Bhd (“HS Bio”) has entered into a Heads of Agreement (“HOA”) in relation to the proposed acquisition of 51% stake in RZAC Immunesafe Sdn Bhd (“RZAC”) for a proposed purchase consideration of RM40.30 million.
The HOA was entered between HS Bio and shareholders of RZAC namely Dato’ Seri Shahril Bin Mokhtar, Datuk Wan Khalik Bin Wan Muhammad and RZAC Business Sdn Bhd.
RZAC is the strategic collaborative partner of Government institutes and agencies which are jointly spearheading the ImmuSAFE COVID+ Biochip Test through Neogenix Laboratoire Sdn Bhd (a 60% owned subsidiary of HS Bio) (“Neogenix Lab”) for the purposes of conducting neutralising antibody testing on the population.
ImmuSAFE COVID+ Biochip is the world’s first lab-based, multi-antigen, multi-domain, fully-quantitative serology test which offers information on risk factors of infectiousness and presence and quantity of protective antibodies against Covid-19, in both symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals. Compared to other antibody tests in the market, ImmuSAFE COVID+ Biochip test picks up more true positives than other tests, as it measures antibodies to 6 SARS-CoV-2 domains, resulting in a more accurate determination of seroprevalence and thus providing the test subject patient, not just a yes or no, but fully quantitative and positional information about SARS-CoV-2 antibodies with threshold comparisons. This is the advantage and specific analysis added value compared to others in the market which are not really ideal.
Hong Seng executive director and HS Bio director Christopher Chan explained that due to different individual response to the various vaccines, coupled with the fact that no vaccine producer is currently able to guarantee sufficient antibody generation post immunisation — true neutralising antibody testing is important to gauge the ability to reach herd immunity in respect of Covid-19.
“ImmuSAFE Covid+ Biochip is a 100% accurate supplementary test when combined together with the RT-PCR can give you a complete image of whether a person has been infected with the Covid-19 virus. Additionally, following Covid-19 vaccination, this test can confirm if an individual has generated a sufficiently strong immune response to the vaccine to confer protection and evaluate whether a booster vaccine is required. This can be considered a new subset of precision medicine which our Neogenix Lab is involved in,” he said.
Earlier this month, Neogenix Lab, a company mainly involved in the provision of laboratory services, medical diagnostic laboratory testing and analytical services, had entered into a Provision for Laboratory Services Agreement with RZAC to provide its services for ImmuSAFE COVID+ Biochip laboratory testing. Both RZAC and Neogenix Lab businesses create a good synergy in which it complements each other perfectly.
“The consolidation of all of HS Bio’s recent efforts are done in the understanding that the battle against Covid-19 will be a long-term one, and we look forward to utilising our capabilities as an end-to-end integrated provider of healthcare supplies, products and services to help curb the ongoing spread of the Covid-19 virus. At an appropriate time, Hong Seng will also consider the possibility of listing HS Bio separately on Bursa Malaysia to seize opportunities and position the company for strong yet sustainable growth and value creation. This is because we have a few other initiatives to transform the service delivery of our local healthcare industry. With our eMedAsia platform we are able to expand very wide and include new concepts to integrate other healthcare players and laboratories through a centralized efficient procurement and service delivery. Our aim is to maintain, grow and innovate the Malaysian healthcare system to continue as one of the world’s best” concluded Chan.
Should the latest proposed acquisition of RZAC materialises, it shall add another dimension to HS Bio’s already stacked list of healthcare solutions that it provides through the companies that it owns such as Pantasniaga Sdn Bhd, which procures medical supplies and equipments such as PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests; Neogenix Lab, a medical diagnostic and research laboratory; eMedAsia Sdn Bhd in partnership with the Malaysian Medical Association in operating eMedAsia.com, a platform which enables private clinics to digitalise primary healthcare services in Malaysia; Neogenix Sdn Bhd, which is in the business of provisioning online health registration of inbound travelers at immigration points of Johor through a web portal known as “JohorTravelSafe”; and HS Ligno Sdn Bhd, a joint venture company with Ligno Holding Sdn Bhd to bring the Tiger Milk Mushroom, a Malaysian national treasure and its other functional mushrooms to the global market.
Issued by: Sense Consultancy on behalf of Hong Seng Consolidated Berhad
