Premaitha Health PLC Middle East Update (4988T)

TIDMNIPT

RNS Number : 4988T

Premaitha Health PLC

13 October 2017

Premaitha Health PLC

("Premaitha" or the "Company")

Commercial progress in the Middle East

Manchester, UK - 13 October 2017: Premaitha Health PLC (AIM: NIPT), a leading international molecular diagnostics group focused on non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT), announces further commercial progress in the Middle East, where several new contracts have been signed via the Company's regional distribution network.

Premaitha has secured contracts with three additional laboratories in the region including in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and has also signed new customers in the region who will send samples to Premaitha's own service laboratories. It is anticipated these new laboratories will be operational with the IONA(R) test by early 2018, and service laboratories are starting to receive samples immediately. Premaitha already has three established customer laboratories in the region and these additional installations will increase the Company's potential addressable market by expanding access into new population groups.

Premaitha's IONA(R) test estimates the risk of a fetus being affected with Down's syndrome or other genetic conditions. The test is performed on a maternal blood sample, containing traces of fetal DNA, which is then analysed using next generation DNA sequencing technology. The test is highly accurate and significantly reduces the number of women who are unnecessarily subjected to risky, invasive follow up procedures to diagnose Down's syndrome and other genetic conditions.

Dr Stephen Little, CEO of Premaitha, commented: "We are continuing to see growing traction across the Middle East as awareness builds of the benefits of non-invasive prenatal testing, and customers appreciate the benefits of our solution and application support. These latest laboratory contracts should begin to contribute from early 2018 once they become operational. Strategically, the Middle East is another important region in the growth and de-risking of our business through geographic diversification."

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.

 
For more information, please contact: 
Premaitha Health PLC                     Tel: +44 (0)161 
 Dr Stephen Little, Chief Executive       667 1053 
 Officer 
 Barry Hextall, Chief Financial Officer 
 Joanne Cross, Head of Marketing 
 [e-mail] 
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP (NOMAD)     Tel: +44 (0)20 
 Liam Murray / James Caithie              7213 0880 
finnCap (Broker)                         Tel: +44 (0)20 
 Adrian Hargrave / Scott Mathieson        7220 0500 
 (Corporate Finance) 
 Tony Quirke (Corporate Broking) 
Vigo Communications                      Tel: +44 (0)20 
 Ben Simons / Fiona Henson / Antonia      7830 9700 
 Pollock 
 [e-mail] 
 

About Premaitha

Premaitha is an international molecular diagnostics group which uses the latest advances in DNA analysis technology to develop safer, faster and regulatory approved genetic screening tests. The Group's primary focus is on non-invasive prenatal tests (NIPT) for pregnant women - an emerging, multi-billion dollar global market.

Premaitha's IONA(R) test was launched in 2015 as the first CE-IVD NIPT test in Europe. It enables laboratories and healthcare practitioners to offer a complete CE-marked NIPT system in-house. The IONA(R) test is performed on a maternal blood sample - which contains traces of fetal DNA - and estimates the risk of a fetus being affected with Down's syndrome or other genetic conditions.

Unlike existing prenatal screening methods, due to its high level of accuracy, the IONA(R) test can significantly reduce the number of women subjected to unnecessary invasive follow up diagnostic procedures, such as amniocentesis, which are costly, resource intensive and carry a risk of miscarriage.

In March 2017, Premaitha acquired Yourgene Bioscience, a specialist next generation sequencing and bioinformatics company based in Taiwan, with its own NIPT screening test that operates on the same Thermo Fisher next-generation sequencing platform as Premaitha's IONA(R) test. Yourgene brings significant benefits to the Group through expanded market access in Asia - the world's fastest growing NIPT market - as well as opportunities for cross-selling and the ability to jointly develop expanded test content both within NIPT and beyond.

Premaitha is headquartered in Manchester, England, with Yourgene offices in Taipei and Singapore. Its shares trade on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange (AIM: NIPT). For further information, please visit www.premaitha.com. Follow us on twitter @PremaithaHealth.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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October 13, 2017 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)