HiberGene Diagnostics develops, manufactures and sells testing kits for a range of conditions, including a rapid Covid-19 test. Photograph: iStockThe board of troubled Irish medtech business HiberGene Diagnostics has decided to call in the liquidator, citing the collapse of talks with potential funding sources as the main reason for the decision.
HiberGene Diagnostics, which was founded in 2009, brought its first product – a test for meningitis – to market in 2015. It has since developed, manufactured and sold 13 molecular tests to identify critical infectious diseases – including a rapid Cvid-19 test – sexually transmitted infections and hospital-acquired infections.
“Unfortunately,” the directors wrote in the update, “following a further disclosure to the media of confidential information . . . no viable solution for future funding has been found”. In July, a group of disgruntled investors – claiming to represent about 30 per cent of the HiberGene’s shareholders – held an extraordinary general meeting that the board refused to recognise as legitimate. In an update to shareholders on July 31st, seen by The Irish Times, the board said it received a request to attend the meeting but “took legal advice” that the request “did not conform to the requirements of the Companies Act”.