YGEN.L Regulatory News (YGEN)

Premaitha Health plc

("Premaitha" or the "Company")

Collaboration with Abnova

Partnership to develop next generation sequencing capability for single cell analysis

Manchester, UK - 26 June 2018: Premaitha Health plc (AIM: NIPT), a leading international molecular diagnostics group, announces that it has entered into a partnership with Abnova, the world's largest monoclonal antibody manufacturer, to collaborate on the development of next generation sequencing ("NGS") capabilities for single cell analysis.

Abnova has successfully developed a large portfolio of cell-based liquid biopsy technologies, focused on the enrichment and isolation of circulating tumour cells ("CTC") and circulating fetal cells ("CFC"). Premaitha, through its Yourgene subsidiary, will work with Abnova in Taiwan to build the single cell NGS infrastructure for the analysis of CTCs and CFCs.

Premaitha and Abnova will work together in order to accelerate the adoption of a laboratory-developed single cell test by integrating their respective systems and developing the applications for in vitro diagnostics, as well as commercialising the test for the cancer and prenatal markets.

Dr Stephen Little, CEO of Premaitha, commented: "In biotechnology, collaboration is essential and we are thrilled to be partnering with a company of Abnova's calibre, who we believe have the complementary expertise to our Yourgene team to drive the development of NGS capabilities for single cell analysis. This partnership further evidences the continued progress we are making in extending our potential product range by leveraging our underlying technologies and developing key collaboration partnerships." 

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® 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® 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® 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® 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.

From May 2018, the Group will trade as Yourgene Health outside of Europe (but remaining as Yourgene Bioscience in Taiwan) reflecting the increased scope of the business in other areas of clinical genetics further to reproductive health; but will maintain 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.