This stock provides Oz’s only HIV self-test kit – and it’s bullish on the budget

Effectively a nanocap, Atomo Diagnostics (ASX:AT1) had an interesting observation on Thursday about the Federal budget the country got earlier in the week.

One of the healthcare spending measures, Canberra are pumping just short of A$50M into the HIV space, with self-testing kits to be made available to at-risk groups.

That brings us to Atomo’s announcement.

“Atomo supplies the only HIV Self-Test included on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG) and has been instrumental in the implementation of [collaborative vending machine] pilot programs,” the company wrote on Thursday.

“Atomo anticipates that a significant portion of the funding committed to these expanded HIV Self-Test programs will be used for procurement of Atomo HIV tests.”

Canberra will be kicking off a program that mails out self-test kits to eligible Australians, on top of the ‘vending machine’ approach. On paper, the government has a “commitment” to end HIV transmission by 2030.

What remains unclear is what recurring government spend on HIV programs will be in to 2030, and, whether or not Atomo will have to deal with competitors.

And compared to what kind of stimulus the critical mineral sector is getting – $7B in what are more or less tax cuts – the $50M figure is fairly paltry in comparison. Atomo mangement did not make any comment on revenue expectations on Thursday, but did note success in vending machine trials Atomo has been a part of.

“We are delighted to see the government recognise the critical need to ensure HIV Self-Test availability across the community and fund the rapid expansion of the national HIV self-test mail-out program and the HIV self-test vending machine pilots,” Atomo chief John Kelly said.

“Both have proven extremely successful in increasing testing rates among groups not currently testing via healthcare facility-based services.”

AT1 last traded at 2.7cps.