Premaitha Health PLC Trading Update and Notice of Results (8132D)

TIDMNIPT

RNS Number : 8132D

Premaitha Health PLC

12 October 2018

Premaitha Health plc

("Premaitha" or the "Group")

Trading Update

&

Notice of Results

Manchester, UK - 12 October 2018: Premaitha Health plc (AIM: NIPT), a leading international molecular diagnostics group, is pleased to provide an update on trading for the six-month period ended 30 September 2018 ("H1").

H1 revenues were approximately GBP3.9 million, an increase of 45 per cent over the corresponding period last year. The Company has made a strong start to the second half of the year.

Additionally, the Company is pleased to note that all required legal settlement actions relating to the patent infringement court proceedings have now been completed.

Premaitha will publish its H1 results on or before 3 December 2018 and provide a business update at its Annual General Meeting on 25 October 2018.

Lyn Rees, Chief Executive Officer of Premaitha, commented: "I am pleased to report strong sales growth in the first half of the financial year and that this momentum has continued into the second half. With the intellectual property litigation now behind us, the Company is focused on capitalising on its global opportunity and driving growth. We look forward to updating shareholders further on the business at our forthcoming Annual General Meeting."

 
For more information, please contact: 
Premaitha Health PLC                              Tel: +44 (0)161 
 Lyn Rees, Chief Executive Officer                 667 1053 
 Barry Hextall, Chief Financial Officer 
 Joanne Cross, Head of Marketing 
 [e-mail] 
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP (NOMAD)              Tel: [phone] 
 Liam Murray / James Caithie                       0880 
finnCap (Broker)                                  Tel: [phone] 
 Geoff Nash / Matthew Radley (Corporate Finance)   0500 
 Tim Redfern (Corporate Broking) 
Vigo Communications                               Tel: [phone] 
 Ben Simons / Fiona Henson / Antonia Pollock       0234 
 [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 current primary focus is on non-invasive prenatal tests (NIPT) for pregnant women - an emerging, multi-billion dollar global market - although the Group intends to expand its product range into other areas of clinical genetics.

Premaitha's first product, the 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 solution 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.

Since May 2018, the Group has traded as Yourgene Health outside of Europe (but remains as Yourgene Bioscience in Taiwan), reflecting the increased scope of the business in other areas of clinical genetics further to reproductive health; but maintains the Premaitha Health brand within Europe.

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.

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October 12, 2018 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)