9 Jun 2021 07:00
Yourgene Health plc
("Yourgene" or the "Group" or the "Company")
Multi-year licence and supply agreement with leading US precision medicine company
Manchester, UK - 9 June 2021: Yourgene (AIM: YGEN), the international molecular diagnostics group, announces it has entered into a licence and supply agreement (the "Agreement") with a leading US precision medicine company (the "Partner") for an initial term of three years commencing 1 April 2022. The Agreement grants the Partner a non-exclusive licence to the Company's FlexTM Analysis Software and commits Yourgene to supplying sample preparation reagents and instrumentation to support the planned launch of a new clinical reproductive health screening service across all US states by the Partner. The Agreement allows for automatic annual renewals after the initial term, subject to typical notice provisions.
The Partner is a leading precision medicine organisation with an established franchise in genetic diagnostics, who wishes to build a significant market presence in the rapidly growing US reproductive health diagnostics sector. After a competitive process the Partner has chosen to partner with Yourgene, given its unique sample preparation technology, bioinformatics expertise and flexible approach to customising its workflow.
The three-year initial contract term enables the Partner to launch a reproductive health screening test in the Company's financial year 2022-23. The screening test will connect the Partner's sample processing workflow with the Company's proprietary bioinformatics FlexTM Analysis Software as well as its Ranger® Technology - the sample enrichment technology acquired through Coastal Genomics in August 2020. The planned launch of the testing service will follow an in-depth customised workflow development and a validation and verification phase prior to launch. The latter process is designed to support attainment of laboratory accreditations for the Partner's laboratory, enabling them to offer the reproductive health screening test.
Yourgene Flex™ is the Company's modular next-generation sequencing (NGS) analysis framework which harnesses best-in-class bioinformatics pipelines to offer high quality, robust yet flexible NGS analysis solutions. Flex™ is enabling Yourgene to support its diagnostic product development partnerships and research collaborations with key industry players, as well as being deployed to support Yourgene's internal product development pipeline across reproductive health and oncology.
Lyn Rees, Chief Executive Officer of Yourgene Health, commented: "We are extremely pleased to sign this agreement with such a prestigious US company and this is a strong endorsement of our software and technology expertise. This collaboration aligns with our strategic goal of providing partners with the best-in-class instrumentation and medical software analysis capabilities. We look forward to enabling our partner to launch a competitive clinical offering into the US market in 2022 and we anticipate that this partnership will generate accretive multi-million dollar revenues for Yourgene in the years to follow. Our move into the US market space is gaining momentum and our newly acquired Ranger® Technology is proving to be a real door opener."
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of the UK Market Abuse Regulation and the Directors of the Company are responsible for the release of this announcement.
Yourgene Health plc Lyn Rees, Chief Executive Officer | Tel: +44 (0)161 669 8122 investors@yourgene-health.com | |||
Barry Hextall, Chief Financial Officer | ||||
Joanne Cross, Director of Marketing | ||||
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP (NOMAD) | Tel: +44 (0)20 7213 0880 | |||
Liam Murray / James Caithie / Ludovico Lazzaretti |
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N+1 Singer (Joint Corporate Broker) | Tel: +44 (0)20 7496 3000 | |||
Aubrey Powell / Tom Salvesen / George Tzimas | ||||
Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (Joint Corporate Broker) | Tel: +44 (0)20 7710 7600 | |||
Nicholas Moore / Matthew Blawat / Ben Maddison | ||||
Walbrook PR Ltd (Media and Investor Relations) | Tel: +44 (0)20 7933 8780 or yourgene@walbrookpr.com | |||
Paul McManus / Lianne Cawthorne | Mob: 07980 541 893 / Mob: 07584 391 303 | |||
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About Yourgene Health
Yourgene Health is an international molecular diagnostics group which develops and commercialises genetic products and services. The group works in partnership with global leaders in DNA technology to advance diagnostic science.
Yourgene primarily develops, manufactures, and commercialises simple and accurate molecular diagnostic solutions, for reproductive health, precision medicine and now infectious diseases. The Group's flagship products include non-invasive prenatal tests (NIPT) for Down's Syndrome and other genetic disorders, Cystic Fibrosis screening tests, invasive rapid aneuploidy tests, and a recent extension into the oncology space with DPYD genotyping.
The launch of Yourgene Genomic Services has enabled Yourgene to offer a global laboratory service network equipped to be a full life-cycle partner for clinical, research and pharmaceutical organisations to support partners at the preclinical, clinical, and post-market stages to develop, manufacture, obtain regulatory approval and commercialise new products and services. In addition, Yourgene Genomic Services offers an NIPT and high throughput COVID testing service.
In August 2020, Yourgene acquired Coastal Genomics, Inc., a sample preparation technology company based in Vancouver, Canada, enabling the Company to extend its offering and IP portfolio in the DNA sample preparation sector. The acquisition increased Yourgene's geographical penetration into the US and Canada, supplementing existing coverage in the UK, Europe, MEA and Asia.
Yourgene Health is headquartered in Manchester, UK with offices in Taipei, Singapore, the US and Canada, and is listed on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market under the ticker "YGEN". For more information visit www.yourgene-health.com and follow us on twitter @Yourgene_Health.