YGEN.L Regulatory News (YGEN)

Premaitha Health plc

Premaitha appoints Antisel SA to distribute the IONA® test in Greece

Manchester, UK and Athens, Greece - 2 October 2015 - Premaitha Health plc ("Premaitha" or "the Company", AIM: NIPT), developer of the IONA® test, the first CE-marked test for non-invasive prenatal screening (NIPT), has signed a distribution agreement with Antisel SA ("Antisel"), the leading distributor of scientific products in Greece, to provide the IONA® test to clinical laboratories in the region. 

The IONA® test estimates the risk of a fetus being affected by Down's syndrome and other serious genetic conditions such as Patau's syndrome and Edwards' syndrome by analysing fetal DNA from a sample of maternal blood. It has a higher detection rate and lower false positive rate than the current combined screening test available, giving pregnant women, their families and their doctors greater confidence in the result and reducing the need for unnecessary invasive follow-up tests that carry a risk of a miscarriage.

As the first and only CE-marked IVD test for NIPT, the IONA® test enables clinical laboratories to run their own in-house service without having to send blood samples to central labs in the USA or China with a wait for results of up to 14 days. All NIPT screening in Greece is currently carried out in this way. However, this distribution agreement will give clinical laboratories in Greece access to the IONA® test, allowing them to offer local NIPT screening for the first time and to take advantage of the test's time to result of just three days. This significantly reduces the waiting time and aims to reduce the associated anxiety and stress for pregnant women.

Dr Stephen Little, CEO of Premaitha said: "Antisel has an excellent reputation and distribution network within Greece and shares our mission to drive the broader uptake of NIPT so that more pregnant women can reap the benefits. This valuable partnership will enable us to provide the IONA® test to hospitals throughout the country and we look forward to working with the Antisel team to help support clinical teams in setting up their own NIPT screening service."

Kostas Gatsos of Antisel SA said: "At Antisel we are committed to the supply of only the most innovative products and scientific solutions. As the first CE-marked NIPT test, we are looking forward to the opportunity to work with Premaitha to offer the IONA® test to our customers, enabling them to provide this important service for pregnant women in Greece."

-Ends-

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.

About Antisel SAAntisel was established in 1967 in Thessaloniki, Greece. Today, after 5 decades of serving scientists and researchers at the health, academic and industrial sectors, ANTISEL has become the most recognized partner for scientific equipment and services in Greece and Southeastern Europe with a strong team of more than 150 specialists in their field.

During the course of the years we have adapted our structure and operations to meet the growing needs of the scientific community. Right now we take pride in being able to provide each one of our customers with a total solution concept tailored to their needs, from customer support to application specialists, and from a proficient logistics to a -second to none- technical service department.

Antisel is today a uniquely positioned international organization with an exceptionally promising future. The company has expanded its partnerships and now is a leading distributor of scientific products and solutions in the entire territory of Southeastern Europe.

For further information please visit www.antisel.gr or email antisel@antisel.gr