(Yicai Global) May 6 -- Andon Health is scouting locations in the US where it will build its own Covid-19 test kit plant to better meet local demand, the Chinese medical device manufacturer’s chairman and general manager said.

The factory will be mostly automated to reduce dependency on labor, Liu Yi said at the latest earnings conference call held yesterday, without mentioning the planned investment amount nor other details. Rumor has it that the Tianjin-based company is looking at California.

Andon has gone from strength to strength since the US Food and Drug Administration approved its Covid-19 home-use test kits for emergency use in November last year. Its US subsidiary iHealth Labs has received USD2.1 billion worth of orders from the US Army and the states of New York and Massachusetts since January. The vast majority of the funds has been paid, Andon said late last month.

The hot-selling product represents a great boost in fortune for Andon. In the first quarter, profit soared 376-fold to CNY14.3 billion (USD2.1 billion) while revenue surged 67-times to USD21.7 billion, according to the financial report released on April 29. Revenue from iHealth Labs made up 77.5 percent of this revenue and overseas sales accounted for 90.6 percent.

The company is also busy exploring other markets. Last month it was given the greenlight to sell its Covid-19 self-test kits in Canada and it has certification applications underway in China and in Japan at present, Liu said. There is huge demand for iHealth’s detection sets and Andon will continue to apply for permission to access other markets, he added.

Andon's share price [SHE:002432] closed down 1.49 percent at CNY79.86 (USD12) today. The stock has gained more than 13-fold since early November last year.

Editor: Kim Taylor