Covid-19 RAT test millionaires: Where they are now

Federal contracts for Covid rapid antigen tests more than doubled in the year since the RAT Kings and Queens became overnight millionaires. Here’s where they are now.

During the peak of pandemic lockdowns, a small cadre of medical wholesalers cashed in on Covid in the seemingly overnight, billion-dollar industry of rapid antigen tests.

Known as the RAT Kings and Queens, the first companies to register with the Therapeutic Goods Administration cornered the market with multimillion-dollar contracts to supply the cotton swabs throughout Australia.

In the year since, the number of companies with TGA approval rapidly ballooned from about 20 at the start of 2022 to about 50 by December.

But the roughly 30 new entrants in the arena rarely reached the dizzying heights of the original kingpins, such as Sydney entrepreneur Austyn Campbell or Sally and Laura Panton.

Austyn Campbell is one of several medical supplied businesses who profited during the pandemic.

For those who got in early, like Ms Campbell’s Motion One, the focus has moved to other projects as the pandemic slowed down and requirements were lifted.

“I’m surprised people are still testing, to be honest,” Ms Campbell told News Corp Australia.

The venture capitalist, who before the pandemic focused on the import/export of medical consumables and sporting products as well as early-stage start-ups in health and wellness, was awarded a $26.2m contract to supply rapid antigen tests from January to August.

Australian Ellume Covid tests.

Her company didn’t seek to renew the federal government contract once the pandemic slowed down, but it was just one of several contracts they had to supply the tests.

“There’s not really the [testing] requirements that there were 12 months ago. It’s definitely quietened down since the surge of the pandemic and we’re not adding any additional medical products to our range at this stage,” she said.

“We do still have some stock of rapid antigen tests, and we do have some small clients that are still purchasing the stock, but not like the large government contract or volume like it was.”

Another of the large contracts went to Hough Pharma, with the original $31.6m deal awarded in January to supply tests amended in March to half the value, netting out at about $15m.

Jackson Hough, director of Hough Pharma.

In June, Hough Pharma was fined $106,560 for allegedly failing to demonstrate the safety and performance of its Covid-19 rapid antigen tests, according to the TGA.

“Hough Pharma Pty Ltd has been issued multiple infringement notices for serial noncompliance,” TGA said in a statement.

“In addition to not meeting deadlines for providing information to the TGA, the lack of customer support has been reported by consumers and verified by TGA investigations.”

Hough Pharma’s Covid test empire reportedly led to tensions in the family between Gregory Hough, in Queensland, and his son, Jackson Hough, in Texas.

Australian Ellume Covid tests

The company, meanwhile, continued to grow with a planned acquisition of failed Covid-19 testing firm Ellume in a $56m deal, according to the Australian Business Network.

Another original Covid kingpin to be fined by the TGA includes 2San Pty Ltd, which was slapped with a $66,600 bill for alleged “serial noncompliance” with deadlines to prove their effectiveness

Over in Mornington, Melbourne, Sally and Laura Panton, whose father David Panton dated former foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop for eight years, were one of the first to gain approval to sell CareStart tests, through their company Pantonic Health. The tests were manufactured by US company Access Bio.

Laura and Sally Panton, the directors of Pantonic Health. Picture: Aaron Francis/The Australian

Perth-based AM Diagnostics, led by Matthew James Fry, scored a contract worth $48.2m to supply from January to February.

It was later amended to $15.3m, almost enough to cover the $16.5 million mansion that West Australian media reported that Mr Fry and his wife, Anna Katarzyna Fry, purchased on “Millionaires Row” in the fancy suburb of Dalkeith.

Built in 1973, the five-bedroom and five-bathroom home sprawled across a 2372-square-metre block and has a 41-metre-wide river frontage.

Of all the tests approved by the TGA, only six were removed from the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG) either voluntarily or for failing to meet regulatory requirements. They include the CovClear COVID-19 Antigen Test sponsored by Medi-Stats ANZ Pty Ltd, which was cancelled by the TGA in May.

Tests pulled voluntarily include the NowCheck COVID-19 Antigen Test by Life Bioscience Pty Ltd in June, BD Veritor™ System for Rapid Detection of SARS-CoV-2, sponsored by Becton Dickinson Pty Ltd, in July, the PCL COVID-19 Rapid FIA, sponsored by Haemokinesis Pty Ltd, in August, the COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Test Device, sponsored by Emergence Technology Pty Ltd, in August, and the BIOCREDIT COVID-19 Ag, sponsored by Haemokinesis Pty Ltd, in November.

Originally published as Covid-19 RAT test millionaires: Where they are now