YGEN.L Regulatory News (YGEN)

Premaitha Health plc

("Premaitha" or the "Company")

Premaitha raises awareness of the IONA® test

at key conferences in the Middle East

Manchester, UK - 6 February 2018: Premaitha Health plc (AIM: NIPT), a leading international molecular diagnostics group focused on prenatal testing, announces it will be participating in key conferences in the Middle East to further raise the profile of the IONA® test across this region.

Medlab Dubai

Medlab is one of the largest medical laboratory exhibitions in the world and is held in Dubai from 5 to 8 February 2018. Premaitha is hosting an exhibition stand at the event and showcasing the IONA® test to the Medlab attendees, comprising both existing and prospective customers and distributors across the Middle East.

For further details, please visit: www.medlabme.com/en/home.html 

Egyptian Fetal Medicine Foundation, 4th Annual Conference

The Egyptian Fetal Medicine Foundation conference ("EFMF") will be held in Cairo, Egypt on 8 and 9 February 2018. The event attracts leading clinicians from across Egypt and the Middle East.

Premaitha will host an exhibition stand at the event and the Company's Head of Operations, Dr Sean Sales, will be giving a presentation to delegates providing a clinical and technical overview of non-invasive prenatal screening ("NIPT").

Through its participation at the event, Premaitha aims to raise awareness of the IONA® test and engage and educate leading fetal medicine clinicians on the benefits of adopting NIPT.

For further details, please visit: efmf-eg.org/index.php 

Premaitha's IONA® test estimates the risk of a fetus being affected with Down's syndrome or other genetic conditions. The test is performed on a maternal blood sample, containing traces of fetal DNA, which is then analysed using next generation DNA sequencing technology. The test is highly accurate and significantly reduces the number of women who are unnecessarily subjected to risky, invasive follow up procedures to diagnose Down's syndrome and other genetic conditions.

Dr Stephen Little, CEO of Premaitha Health, commented: "We continue to see increasing traction across the Middle East for the IONA® test. These key industry events will enable us to further raise awareness of both the IONA® test and the benefits of adopting NIPT, with a view to further enhancing our distribution networks in the region."

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 primary focus is on non-invasive prenatal tests (NIPT) for pregnant women - an emerging, multi-billion dollar global market.

Premaitha's 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 test 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.

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.