PotentialAnother reason for having optimism for growth in VTM is the fact that before the pandemic began is that labs and institutions were having problems getting VTM that was reliable as far as quality is concerned. Poor packaging that contributed to contamination and product or had short shelf life or was not up to quality standards when packaged because of poorly trained staff and facility conditions of manufacturers that was not adequate to avoid contamination. Because of those problems many took on the role of producing their own VTM. This has a cost for those that do, in time and resources and typically made in small batches because of short shelf life. MBX is determined to manufacture in large enough volumes that they will be able to produce VTM at a very cost-effective finished product cost, making it more likely for institutions and labs to buy from MBX.
MBX has gone from a little-known supplier of Qaps and Antigens because of white labeled products to a very well-respected supplier of branded products, with a growing distribution network and many recognizing the quality of those products. VTM is not a new product for MBX. They have been making it for many years for their own use. They perfected it for longer shelf life and now they have made it available to others starting with Ontario.
2019 Imports of VTM was 55 million dollars alone never mind the value of internally made product.
Potential to gain customers that have produced their own from efficiencies gained in large volume production.