Apollo and LabMicTa

Last summer, Apollo Healthcare Property Fund added a medical centre in Hengelo to its portfolio. Part of the centre includes a microbiological (LabMicTa) and a pathological laboratory (LabPON). The acquisition of the medical centre was realized with the idea that the aging population in The Netherlands will increase sharply in the coming years. As a result, demand for the services of the laboratories involved will only increase and the quality of healthcare in the Netherlands will improve, therefore the acquisition fits perfectly into our impact policy.

In conversation with Sanne Tempel, director of operations of LabMicTA, we came to talk about the current Covid-19 situation. Covid-19 has a major impact on LabMicTA’s business. In this lab the Covid-19 tests in accordance with ISO 15189: 2012 (accreditation for medical laboratories) are carried out for the GGD, hospitals (MST and ZGT), general practitioners and nursing homes. The upscaling has progressed gradually from a few hundred samples in the beginning to currently more than> 3000 samples per day. The working days at LabMicTA have been stretched from 7:00 am to 1:00 am during the crisis. Scaling up the number of tests resulted in an acute shortage of storage space and work space. Sanne indicates that material is even stored in certain office spaces. In consultation with LabMicTA, Apollo has immediately offered a vacant space to relieve them of their worries, ultimately this is also a social interest.

LabMicTA is investing in new production lines in order to be able to handle the increased demand more efficiently and also to reduce the pressure of its employees. Incidentally, absenteeism is low, which confirms the motivation of the employees. By means of new production lines, the pooled capacity will be able to go towards the 10,000-14,000 tests per day. The investments that LabMicTA makes with regard to the machinery are aimed at being able to analyze / test other pathogens after the Covid-19. The aim of this is to be equipped to run bulk diagnostics and also to continue to do specialist diagnostics for hospitals. This makes the process more efficient and cost effective and ultimately cheaper.

Due to the current situation, LabMicTA has been able to make an investment for the long-term growth ambition and build up a strong position in the region and beyond for infection diagnostics. Apollo is working with LabMicTA on a growth plan for housing in the building on Boerhaavelaan.