Premaitha Health PLC Update Re. Swiss Customer (0344F)
12 May 2017 - 11:15PM
UK Regulatory
TIDMNIPT
RNS Number : 0344F
Premaitha Health PLC
12 May 2017
Premaitha Health plc
Update Re. Swiss Customer
Manchester, UK - 12 May 2017: Premaitha Health plc (AIM: NIPT,
"Premaitha" or the "Company"), a leading international molecular
diagnostics group focused on prenatal testing, announces that the
Company's application for its Swiss customer, Genoma SA ("Genoma"),
to be placed into bankruptcy for non-payment of debts has been
successful (the "Ruling").
As previously announced in the Company's interim results (see
RNS announcement on 21 December 2016), Genoma had been experiencing
financial difficulties. On 21 April 2017, Genoma's parent company,
Esperite (Euronext: ESP), announced it had concluded a fundraising
exercise. These funds have not, apparently, been made available to
Genoma and, following proceedings instigated by Premaitha in the
Swiss courts, the official Swiss commercial register has today
confirmed the Ruling in favour of Premaitha's application.
While it is anticipated that a full provision will be required
in the accounts to 31 March 2017 for the outstanding debt owed to
Premaitha by Genoma of approximately GBP750,000, the Company will
now vigorously pursue all options to recover the debt or equivalent
assets and will provide further updates in due course.
Furthermore, Premaitha believes Genoma's bankruptcy presents a
commercial opportunity to sell to the sizeable NIPT customer base
which had been built up in Switzerland and certain other European
countries by Genoma when they were using the IONA(R) test from
Premaitha, but which Genoma had recently been converting to their
own in-house successor product. Premaitha will target these
customers directly and through its recently expanded distribution
network.
Additionally, Genoma's bankruptcy simplifies the ongoing UK
intellectual property litigation against Premaitha as there will no
longer be a parallel action in Switzerland.
The Company understands that Genoma has a short period in which
to appeal the Ruling and will make a further announcement if
applicable.
Dr Stephen Little, CEO, commented: "The Swiss court ruling to
place Genoma into bankruptcy is a positive development in an
otherwise unfortunate situation as it will now accelerate our
pursuit of the recovery of this debt in various possible forms from
Esperite or the official receiver. Moreover, there is a commercial
opportunity now to secure and build on the NIPT customer base they
had built using the IONA(R) test both within and outside of
Switzerland."
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.
For more information, please contact:
Premaitha Health plc Tel: +44 (0)
161 667 6865
Dr Stephen Little, Chief Executive
Office
Barry Hextall, Chief Financial
Officer
Joanne Cross, Head of Marketing
investors@premaitha.com
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP (Nomad) Tel: +44 (0)
20 7213 0880
Liam Murray / James Caithie
finnCap (Broker) Tel: +44 (0)
20 7220 0500
Adrian Hargrave / Scott Mathieson
(Corporate Finance)
Tony Quirke (Corporate Broking)
Vigo Communications Tel: +44 (0)
20 7830 9700
Ben Simons / Fiona Henson / Antonia
Pollock
premaitha@vigocomms.com
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(R) 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(R) 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(R) 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(R) 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.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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