YGEN.L Regulatory News (YGEN)

Centrum Badan DNA partners with Premaitha Health to offer the IONA® test in Poland

Manchester, UK and Warsaw, Poland - 31 March 2015 - Premaitha Health plc ("Premaitha", AIM: NIPT) and Centrum Badan DNA group in Poland ("Centrum Badan") announce today a collaboration agreement for Premaitha to supply its CE-marked in vitro diagnostic (IVD) the IONA® test for non-invasive prenatal screening (NIPT) to Centrum Badan.

The two companies will work closely together as they establish Centrum Badan as Premaitha's preferred partner laboratory within Poland.

The IONA® test is the first CE-marked in vitro diagnostic (IVD) product for NIPT, enabling genetic laboratories such as Centrum Badan to offer NIPT in-house. It uses next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology to estimate the risk of a fetus having serious genetic disorders such as Down's syndrome (Trisomy 21), Edwards' syndrome (Trisomy 18) and Patau's syndrome (Trisomy 13) by analysing cell-free fetal DNA from a sample of maternal blood. The IONA test® has a higher detection rate and lower false positive rate than the current combined test available to pregnant women in Poland.

Last year there were 376,000 live births in Poland according to the Polish Statistical Office, and the uptake of NIPT tests is on the increase. The IONA® test will be available for pregnant women who wish to have a private non-invasive screening test and Centrum Badan will work with national hospitals wishing to offer high-risk pregnant women the test.

Jacek Wojciechowicz, CEO of Centrum Badan, commented: "In our opinion, the IONA® test is superior over other tests due to the complete workflow package from DNA extraction through to analysis software and reporting. Premaitha's test also offers the highest accuracy and reliability with results available to clinicians in just three days. Having exclusive access to the only regulated CE-IVD NIPT in Europe for the pregnant women of Poland is a significant commercial advantage to our company. We anticipate launching the IONA® test in Poland over the next few weeks and look forward to working with the Premaitha team."

Dr Stephen Little, CEO of Premaitha said: "We have selected Centrum Badan as our preferred collaborator in Poland due to the company's technical next-generation sequencing expertise and its close network of obstetricians and clinicians. This collaboration is another fantastic endorsement of our IONA® test following so soon after our recent contract wins in Switzerland with Genoma and in the UK with St George's NHS Foundation Trust. We are very pleased with the progress we are making across Europe to bring NIPT to pregnant women."

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About Medgenetix, part of the Centrum Badan DNA group

Medgenetix was established by the National Chamber of Commerce and Centrum Badan DNA in response to market demand for highly specialized medical services in the field of personalized medicine. The company's activity focuses on the commercialization of the results of research and development in the field of personalized medicine, particularly oncology. Medgenetix team consists of specialists (doctors, diagnosticians, molecular biologists, medical analysts) with many years of experience in the field of genetics and a range of diagnostic and research experience. The company offers modern technologies in the field of DNA analysis based on NGS technology.

The company's mission is to provide access to the most modern methods of medical diagnosis and the development of new research techniques to more effectively anticipate, treatment and prevention of genetic diseases. Medgenetix seeks to disseminate personalized medical genetics and pharmacogenetics through the development of diagnostic tests, including applicable in targeted oncotherapy. 10 April 2014 Medgenetix Sp z o.o gained entry to the polish register of medicinal entities.

About Premaitha Health

Premaitha is an innovative molecular diagnostics company employing the latest advances in DNA analysis technology to develop tests for non-invasive prenatal screening (NIPT) and other applications. Premaitha's flagship product, the IONA® test is the first non-invasive in vitro diagnostic product for prenatal screening enabling clinical laboratories to offer CE-marked NIPT in-house for the first time.

The IONA® test estimates the risk of a fetus having Down's syndrome or other serious genetic diseases. The IONA® test has a higher detection rate and lower false positive rate than existing screening tests, giving pregnant women, their families and their doctors greater confidence in the result and reducing the need for unnecessary invasive follow-up tests and the associated anxiety and stress. The IONA® test is a complete diagnostic system that is simple and standardised, enabling Premaitha's clinical laboratory customers to perform the test in their own facilities. This supports Premaitha's strategy of accelerating the broad dissemination of NIPT tests to ensure that their benefits are available to pregnant women everywhere.

Premaitha is listed on the London Stock Exchange (AIM). Its R&D, manufacturing and commercial operation is located at Manchester Science Park, UK. For further information please visit www.premaitha.com or email iona@premaitha.com.