Andrew Lloyd Webber is behind some of the best-known musicals of modern times – Phantom Of The Opera, Les Miserables, Cats and Evita to name just a few. Along the way, he has amassed an estimated fortune of £800million.
Lord Lloyd-Webber is not the only deep-pocketed investor in this business. Scotland’s first billionaire Sir Tom Hunter, who founded and sold sports chain Sports Division, is another EDX enthusiast.
Lately, he has chosen to put some of that cash into EDX Medical, a small company helping to revolutionise the way cancer, heart disease and hospital infections are diagnosed and treated.
Investor: Andrew Lloyd Webber with his wife Madeleine
Lord Lloyd-Webber is not the only deep-pocketed investor in this business. Scotland’s first billionaire Sir Tom Hunter, who founded and sold sports chain Sports Division, is another EDX enthusiast.
And so is former chairman of Wolverhampton Wanderers Steve Morgan, a property magnate turned philanthropist whose cash pile runs to more than £900million.
For a small healthcare firm to have such illustrious backers is highly unusual but then EDX itself is no common or garden start-up business.
Founded just two years ago, the company is the brainchild of Sir Chris Evans, a scientist and serial entrepreneur who has built more than 50 medical companies from scratch, creating huge rewards for investors along the way.
He is chief scientist for EDX but the firm is run by Mike Hudson, another boffin turned businessman, with a rich pedigree in the healthcare industry, from established multinationals such as Bristol Myers Squibb to start-ups around the world.
With decades of experience, Hudson and Evans have a wide network of contacts in the medical profession and academia.
They are putting these to good use with a cluster of products designed to improve treatments for some of the most dangerous diseases of the modern world.
Cancer affects more than 20million people a year worldwide and numbers are rising fast, with 30 million cases expected by 2030.
Treatment has advanced by leaps and bounds in recent years with the advent of personalised care, which reflects patients’ individual genetic make-up.
EDX has devised tests that reveal these genetic features in a matter of minutes so cancer sufferers are given the right medication at the right time.
Time matters: EDX has devised tests that reveal these genetic features in a matter of minutes so cancer sufferers are given the right medication at the right time
Fast, accurate diagnosis can mean the difference between life and death and support for EDX tests is growing at pace.
Heart disease is on the EDX radar too, alongside a range of hospital acquired infections, from sepsis to MRSA.
These are all too often fatal, especially as sufferers tend to be elderly and unwell. Speedy diagnosis is of the essence to ensure that patients are given the right treatment so they are given effective drugs if they need them but not dosed up with antibiotics unnecessarily.
This is where EDX comes in. Based in Oxford and Cambridge, the company benefits from working closely with scientists and medics from both cities.
The group has attracted powerful partners too, including top-tier medical giant Thermo Fisher, valued on the New York stock market at $230billion (£176billion).
The tie is likely to yield significant rewards, combining EDX’s know-how and nimble footedness with Thermo’s global muscle.
EDX has also devised a blood test for people whose family history suggests they could be vulnerable to cancer.
A single test covers some of the most common cancers, including breast, prostate, bowel, pancreatic and ovarian.
If results are positive, doctors can recommend lifestyle changes or monitoring systems that can stop these diseases in their tracks.
Hudson and his crew have been working hard in recent months and news has been scarce.
This should change in the next few weeks, with updates on a raft of new diagnostic tools for illnesses ranging from bowel cancer to pneumonia. Some tests are carried out in laboratories.
Some are hand-held and can be used in GP surgeries or even at home, much like Covid testing kits.
In every case, however, EDX is focused on delivering results that are fast, accurate and wide-ranging, helping people to live longer and lead healthier lives.
EDX will unveil results for the year to last March later this week and followers expect sales of just a few hundred thousand pounds. But revenues and profits should build up swiftly, as EDX turns tests and trials into commercial reality.
MIDAS VERDICT: EDX Medical shares floated on the junior Aquis market in 2022 at 6p. The price hit 12p this year but is now 10p. At this level, the stock should yield rewards.
EDX is a pioneer in its field, developing technology that could improve care for some of the most dangerous diseases. With strong partners and billionaire backers, this is an attractive punt for the adventurous investor.
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