Premaitha Health PLC Premaitha announces two laboratory hub contracts (5206K)

TIDMNIPT

RNS Number : 5206K

Premaitha Health PLC

10 July 2017

Premaitha Health plc

("Premaitha" or the "Company" or the "Group")

Premaitha announces two laboratory hub contracts in South East Asia

Manchester, UK - 10 July 2017: Premaitha Health plc (AIM: NIPT), a leading international molecular diagnostics group focused on non-invasive prenatal testing ("NIPT"), announces that it has signed contracts with two significant laboratories in South East Asia through its Taiwanese subsidiary, Yourgene Bioscience ("Yourgene").

The agreements have been signed with two partners for laboratories which are in different countries in South East Asia and will act be established as regional hubs for NIPT. Both partners are already established providers of NIPT in their domestic markets with ambitions to further expand across the region. One partner is also amongst the largest listed genomic testing companies in Asia and will market the test under its own brand.

Dr Stephen Little, CEO, commented: "South East Asia is a very important region for Premaitha as the NIPT market is well-established and growing apace. These newly secured market leading partners will increase Premaitha's presence in the region, whilst further expanding our routes to market.

"We continue to work with our partners globally to increase awareness of the benefits of NIPT as we seek to further strengthen our footprint."

For more information, please contact:

 
 Premaitha Health plc                   Tel: +44 (0) 
                                         161 667 6865 
 Dr Stephen Little, Chief Executive 
  Office 
 Barry Hextall, Chief Financial 
  Officer 
  Joanne Cross, Head of Marketing 
 [e-mail] 
 
 Cairn Financial Advisers LLP (Nomad)   Tel: +44 (0) 
                                         20 7213 0880 
 Liam Murray / James Caithie 
 
 finnCap (Broker)                       Tel: +44 (0) 
                                         20 7220 0500 
 Adrian Hargrave / Scott Mathieson 
  (Corporate Finance) 
 Tony Quirke (Corporate Broking) 
 
 Vigo Communications                    Tel: +44 (0) 
                                         20 7830 9701 
 Ben Simons / Fiona Henson / Antonia 
  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

END

MSCUGUMWMUPMPUB

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 10, 2017 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)