The LBT Innovations Limited (ASX: LBT) share price is deep in the red today. This comes regardless of the medical technology company providing investors with a positive update yesterday.

At the time of writing, LBT Innovations shares are down a sizeable 14.29% to 12 cents apiece.

What did LBT Innovations announce?

According to its announcement, LBT Innovations advised Clever Culture Systems (CCS) has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Thermo Fisher Scientific.

CCS is a joint-venture company owned equally by LBT Innovations and German medical equipment group Hettich.

Thermo Fisher is a leading provider of instrumentation and consumables in the US microbiology market.

The 5-year deal will see Thermo Fisher become the exclusive distributor for the company's automated culture plate reader, APAS Independence, in the US.

APAS Independence is the first and only FDA-cleared automated culture plate reader available in the United States. The innovative technology uses advanced imaging and artificial intelligence to interpret bacterial growth on culture plates.

Under the agreement, Thermo Fisher will engage in sales and marketing activities for APAS Independence in the US. In addition, the company will also provide installation, maintenance and support services to customers.

The agreement is a major milestone for LBT Innovations as it will provide sales and commercial activities in the US market which is the largest in the world. It offers more than 1,500 target laboratories for the potential placement of APAS Independence readers.

LBT Innovations CEO and managing director Brent Barnes commented:

This is a really important milestone for LBT and represents a major step forward in our commercialisation strategy in the United States.

We have spoken previously about the importance of appointing well recognised, leading distributors to support our sales efforts in key markets. Thermo Fisher is a leader in microbiology that is recognised globally, and we will benefit greatly from the depth and strength of their sales team in the United States…

We are very pleased to now have two of the world's largest microbiology companies selling our technology across the two main markets of the United States and Europe, which is a further validation of benefits of our technology.

LBT Innovations share price summary

Since the beginning of the year, LBT Innovations shares have moved in circles, remaining relatively unchanged for the period. When zooming out to the last 12 months, however, its shares are down around 8%.

LBT Innovations presides a market capitalisation of roughly $33 million and has over 289 million shares on its books.

The post LBT Innovations (ASX:LBT) share price plummets 14% despite positive update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The LBT Innovations Limited (ASX: LBT) share price is storming higher today after the company announced the achievement of a milestone in the United States.

At the time of writing, LBT Innovations shares last changed hands at 15.5 cents, representing a gain of 10.71%. This takes the company's current market capitalisation to around $36 million – so we're very much at the smaller end of the ASX here.

About LBT Innovations

LBT Innovations is a designer of advanced technology solutions for the medical industry. Its core capabilities include artificial intelligence (AI), image analysis, and software engineering solutions that improve medical diagnostic workflows.

The company's first product, MicroStreak, was a world-first in the automation of the culture plate streaking process. Its second product, the Automated Plate Assessment System (APAS), is currently being commercialised through a 50%-owned joint venture company.

According to LBT, the APAS instrument is the only US FDA-cleared AI technology for automated imaging, analysis and interpretation of culture plates following incubation.

Why the LBT Innovations share price is spiking

This morning, LBT announced the first sale of an APAS Independence instrument in the US to Hennepin County Medical Centre (HCMC).

The sale of the APAS Independence has been completed following the installation of the middleware driver for APAS, which connects the instrument to HCMC's information management system. This, in turn, enables the automated reporting capability of the APAS technology. 

The APAS driver was developed by Data Innovations and has been successfully interfaced by HCMC. It is now in a testing and validation phase prior to the expected routine clinical use of the urine analysis module.

HCMC is a medium-sized clinical laboratory that provides a full range of diagnostic testing and reporting services. It processes approximately 500 specimens a day, including 300 urine plate analysis.

According to the announcement, the centre has purchased the APAS Independence to support its daily culture plate workflow. With this, HCMC has entered into an annual software license for the FDA-cleared urine analysis model and a 5-year service agreement.

Commenting on the collaboration, HCMC's director of microbiology, Dr Glen Hansen, said:

"The ability for us to automate the reading of our culture plates with the APAS Independence has increased the work efficiency through the laboratory and has motivated staff who now have more time for other activities."

Meanwhile, LBT CEO and managing director Brent Barnes said:

"We are thrilled for HCMC to be the site of our first APAS sale in the United States given their status and reputation which will no doubt help provide further commercial validation. Dr Hansen has been a great advocate for the technology and the purchase reflects the positive impact the technology has had within their lab. We continue to work hard with other laboratories in the region as we look to target further U.S. commercial sales."

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The medical technology company's shares finished the day a massive 136% higher at 16.5 cents but were as much as 243% higher to 24 cents at one stage.

Why did the LBT Innovations share price rocket 243% higher?

Investors were fighting to get hold of the company's shares yesterday after it announced that its 50%-owned joint venture company, Clever Culture Systems, has received 510(k) clearance from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its APAS Independence instrument with associated urine analysis module.

According to the release, the FDA clearance is the final regulatory milestone for the instrument, meaning Clever Culture Systems can now commence with sales in the United States.

Management believes that the APAS Independence instrument is the only commercially available instrument for the automatic reading of culture plates in the United States.

In light of this milestone being achieved, the Clever Culture Systems business will now bring forward its US commercialisation and sales activities.

What is the APAS Independence instrument?

The release explains that APAS Independence is a fully automated instrument with the ability to process over 200 culture plates per hour. This is at least three times faster than manual culture plate reading.

The instrument can differentiate culture plates showing bacterial growth from those that are not, without the need for highly skilled microbiologist assistance.

This is key to the clinical utility of the instrument that enables the instrument to be truly autonomous, and without the need for further intervention.

What is the market opportunity?

There are over 5,000 clinical laboratories in the United States, making it the single largest pathology market in the world.

Management estimates that there are more than 1,500 laboratories in this market that exceed the daily culture plate volume that would make the commercial return on investment for the purchase of an APAS Independence attractive.

Previous presentations have suggested a purchase price of ~US$300,000 for APAS Independence, which would make its target market worth around US$450 million.

Elsewhere in the medtech industry on Tuesday, the Nanosonics Ltd (ASX: NAN) share price dropped 4.5% and the Pro Medicus Limited (ASX: PME) share price fell just over 2%.

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I believe CSL is one of the highest quality companies in Australia and is thoroughly deserving of a spot in investors' portfolios.

But CSL isn't the only biotech which I feel investors should be taking a look at. At the other end of the market there are some fledgling biotech shares with potentially bright futures ahead of them. Here's why they are on my watch list:

Bionomics Ltd (ASX: BNO)

I'm very optimistic about Bionomics' BNC210 drug for the treatment of anxiety. Recent phase II trial results were promising in outperforming the current standard of care Ativan. Pleasingly BNC210 is just one of a number of drugs that Bionomics has in its pipeline. In partnership with US pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co, the company aims to bring new treatments to patients suffering from chronic pain and memory impairment. These include those with ADHD, Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's disease and Schizophrenia.

LBT Innovations Limited (ASX: LBT)

LBT Innovations recently announced that its Automated Plate Assessment System (APAS) has been granted approval by the US Food and Drug Administration as a Class II medical device. APAS is a revolutionary artificial intelligence technology for the automated imaging, analysis, interpretation, and reporting of growth on microbiology culture plates following incubation. Ultimately this enables the rapid diagnosis and reporting of infectious diseases to a more accurate level than a team of microbiologists, according to research published in the prestigious Journal of Clinical Microbiology.

Viralytics Ltd. (ASX: VLA)

Imagine taking that pesky common cold virus and using it to fight both melanoma and non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. Well that's exactly what Viralytics has done. CAVATAK is a novel cancer immunotherapy based on a proprietary cold virus that has been shown to preferentially infect and attack cancer cells by enhancing the body's own defences. Although it is still early days, it is pleasing to see that so far trials have produced positive results. Should CAVATAK make it to market, analysts at Roth Capital estimate that it could command annual sales in the region of US$600 million a year.

The post 3 fast-growing biotech shares at the top of my watch list appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

LBT shares skyrocketed higher by as much as 89% to 36 cents, before dropping back a touch to 31 cents at the time of writing.

The Adelaide-based company announced that its Automated Plate Assessment System (APAS) has been granted approval by the US Food and Drug Administration as a Class II medical device.

According to the release APAS is a revolutionary artificial intelligence technology for the automated imaging, analysis, interpretation, and reporting of growth on microbiology culture plates following incubation. This enables the rapid diagnosis and reporting of infectious diseases.

Over a 12-month period clinical trials were conducted with 10,000 patients involved. In each trial APAS achieved its target primary endpoints, with the results either matching or exceeding the findings of a panel of experienced microbiologists.

CEO Brent Barnes stated:

"FDA clearance follows rigorous interrogation and validation of the capabilities of APAS. The successful clinical trial program completed in 2015 and clearance by FDA also validate the underlying technology that is the core platform of our Company's vision to integrate imaging with interpretative intelligence to deliver faster and more secure diagnoses for patients. FDA clearance is a fitting tribute to the many years of painstaking work by LBT's staff and partners, who together have made our shared vision a reality."

The company formed as part of a joint venture named, Clever Culture Systems AG, is aiming to bring APAS to market in 2017 as an automated stand-alone plate reader followed by the integrated incubator at a later date.

Whilst this is undoubtedly a big step forward, I believe it is impossible to know just how big the market is for APAS at this stage. Because of this I would be hesitant to make an investment at this point in time.

I think it is definitely worth adding to your watch list in order to keep a close eye on. But rather than investing in LBT Innovations, I would instead look at investments in CSL Limited (ASX: CSL), Ellex Medical Lasers Limited (ASX: ELX), or Nanosonics Ltd (ASX: NAN).

The post Here's why LBT Innovations Limited shares rocketed 89% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The €3 billion ($A4.4 billion) market cap French laboratory equipment company, bioMérieux, has given word that it intends to terminate its exclusive deal with the ASX market minnow that involved licensing LBT's automated culture plate streaker in the next 12 months.

There are a few lessons investors can draw from this unfortunate experience that can be applied to LBT's other product opportunity.

While striking a partnership with a large partner is an important milestone for any small aspiring ASX life science company, it doesn't necessarily lower the riskiness of the investment. It just shifts the risks – usually from product risk (i.e. whether the technology works) to sales/distribution risks.

Getting a handle on the latter is not always easy but keeping an eye on quarterly sales figures will give one an idea on whether the product is gaining market traction. Anyone following the LBT story will know the automated streaker is not gaining sufficient traction when compared with LBT management's initial expectations in 2007 when the licensing deal was struck.

This brings me to the next important point. Global companies have their own (and often complicated) agenda and you can always count on them to pursue that first. This is because these companies have multiple products that are consistently competing for scarce resources within the organisation.

If a new product is not making sufficient inroads, the issue of moral hazard will become a major risk factor.

LBT's experience is not unique. If anything, such issues arise fairly regularly. Biota had to launch legal action against GlaxoSmithKline, while Johnson & Johnson initially dragged its feet in marketing a blood glucose testing kit from Universal Biosensors, Inc. (ASX: UBI) because it cannibalised on sales of Johnson & Johnson's existing product.

LBT's share price crashed 50% to 5 cents to a seven-month low before recovering slightly to 5.5 cents in late morning trade. LBT has received around $A13 million in various payments from bioMérieux over the years and will continue to be paid royalties for 2015.

The $7 million market cap innovator has another product line it is trying to commercialise. It has struck a joint venture with Swiss lab instrument company Hettich to develop an intelligent imaging platform.

Let's hope this partnership is more enduring.

The post What investors can learn from LBT Innovations Limited's slump to a seven-month low appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Here's why these stocks moved.

Highfield Resources Ltd (ASX: HFR) soared 26% to close at 63 cents, after the potash explorer upgraded its resource estimate for its Javier project in Northern Spain. The project is 100% owned by the company, and is less than 40km from two former operating mines.

LBT Innovations Limited (ASX: LBT) climbed 18.9% to finish at 22 cents. The company designs automated diagnostic solutions in healthcare and recently announced that it expected to see recurring revenues from its Previ®Isola and APAS® products. LBT Innovations expects to see significant milestone payments and licence fees as well as recurring royalties to 2028.

SFG Australia (ASX: SFW) gained 18.5% to end at 86.5 cents, after receiving a 90 cent takeover offer from fellow financial services firm IOOF Holdings. Consolidation in the sector has been rife in recent times, as companies look to reduce costs by increasing in scale.

Armour Energy Ltd (ASX: AJQ) added 16.7% to 17.5 cents. While no news was released today to explain the share price move, a broker report in March this year valued the shares at 59 cents each. The company owns a 100% interest in one of the largest shale gas acreage positions in Australia according to the report.

While some of these companies are high risk small caps, if they can capitalise on their potential, they could be worth much more in the years ahead, despite today's price gains. Having said that, very few small speculative stocks manage to do that, and investors may want to consider three oil and gas companies that are already producing and have plenty of potential.

The post 4 stocks that soared more than 16% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.