XpresSpa Pursues Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Screening and Testing at U.S. Airports
April 03 2020 - 9:15AM
XpresSpa Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: XSPA) (“XpresSpa” or the “Company”),
today provided an update on recent discussions with local airport
authorities and healthcare partners so that it may begin providing
screening and testing for novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”) at U.S.
airports. COVID-19 screening and testing would be conducted by
converting select existing spa locations for this purpose on an
interim basis and over time, potentially adding separate,
standalone airport locations as testing sites.
XpresSpa’s U.S. airport real estate portfolio
consists of 46 locations across 23 airports that are ready to be
reactivated and redeployed in short order, subject to the approval
of local airport authorities. The Company’s global spas are
temporarily closed due to recent local government mandates
categorizing its traditional services as “non-essential
services”.
Since March 19, 2020, XpresSpa has been
advancing discussions with healthcare partners to develop a model
for COVID-19 screening and testing in U.S. airports as a
much-needed public service. The Company has also recently filed
paperwork in the State of Delaware to form a new business unit to
administer such screening and testing capabilities, XpresTest,
Inc., as a wholly-owned subsidiary of XpresSpa Group, Inc.
While nothing definitive has yet been finalized,
XpresSpa is currently in discussions with three major airports, JFK
International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International
Airport and Chicago O'Hare International Airport to pilot COVID-19
screening and testing for airline employees, contractors and
workers, concessionaires and their employees, TSA agents, and U.S.
Customs and Border Protection agents. The Company is also in the
process of recruiting a medical director who would work alongside
healthcare officials to help design safe and compliant protocols
and train employees.
Doug Satzman, Chief Executive Officer, XpresSpa
said, “We are moving forward with our public and private
relationships to make COVID-19 screening and testing in U.S.
airports a reality and hopefully will be able to begin pilot
testing shortly for the benefit and protection of our fellow
citizens. Since the onset of this pandemic, we have thought that we
can and should play a significant role within the travel sector in
the fight against COVID-19 and other highly contagious diseases in
the future given our airport relationships, infrastructure,
workforce with TSA clearance and strong desire to keep everyone
safe.”
The Company recently announced its partnership with Relevant
Healthcare. Relevant Healthcare is currently offering clinical
diagnostic testing for COVID-19 through its contracts with
Laboratory Corporation of America® (“LabCorp”) and Quest
Diagnostics™ (“Quest”) to support full COVID-19 RT-PCR testing. In
addition, the Company is also in active discussions with [Aytu
BioScience (NASDAQ: AYTU; “Aytu”)], a specialty pharmaceutical
company, and marketer of a COVID-19 IgG/IgM Rapid Test, and [Henry
Schein Medical (“Henry Schein”)], the world’s largest distributor
of health care solutions to office-based dental and medical
professionals, and the developer of the Standard Q COVID-19 test,
to deploy their respective rapid antibody blood testing
solutions.
XpresSpa would also partner with Healthalytica,
LLC (“Healthalytica”), a New York City-based provider of digital
health and financial transparency solutions for health plans.
Healthalytica would be charged with processing claims, insurance
payments and distributing test result data to the appropriate
local, state, and national authorities.
In developing its model for COVID-19 screening
and testing at U.S. airports, XpresSpa is being assisted by
Capstone Municipal Advisors LLC (“Capstone”) who is serving as a
project manager. Capstone is an Atlanta-based Minority Business
Enterprise (“MBE”) that provides management consulting services and
advice to state and local governments in the areas of municipal
finance and infrastructure.
About XpresSpa Group, Inc.XpresSpa Group,
Inc. (Nasdaq: XSPA) is a health and wellness holding company.
XpresSpa Group’s core asset, XpresSpa, is a leading airport
retailer of spa services and related health and wellness products,
with 51 locations in 25 airports
globally. XpresSpa offers services that are tailored
specifically to the busy travel customer. XpresSpa is
committed to providing exceptional customer experiences with its
innovative premium spa services, as well as luxury travel products
and accessories. XpresSpa provides almost one million
services to customers per year at its locations in the United
States, Netherlands, and the United Arab Emirates. To
learn more about XpresSpa Group,
visit: www.XpresSpaGroup.com. To learn more
about XpresSpa, visit www.XpresSpa.com.
Forward-Looking StatementsThis
press release may contain "forward-looking" statements within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section
21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These include
statements preceded by, followed by or that otherwise include the
words "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates,"
"projects," "intends," "should," "seeks," "future," "continue," or
the negative of such terms, or other comparable terminology.
Forward-looking statements relating to expectations about future
results or events are based upon information available
to XpresSpa Group as of today's date and are not
guarantees of the future performance of the company, and actual
results may vary materially from the results and expectations
discussed. Additional information concerning these and other risks
is contained in XpresSpa Group’s most recently filed Annual Report
on Form 10-K, Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, recent Current Reports
on Form 8-K and other Securities and Exchange
Commission filings. All subsequent written and oral
forward-looking statements concerning XpresSpa Group, or other
matters and attributable to XpresSpa Group or any person
acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by
the cautionary statements above. XpresSpa Group does not
undertake any obligation to publicly update any of these
forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that
may arise after the date hereof.
Investor Relations:ICRRaphael
Gross(203) 682-8253
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