TIDMNIPT
Premaitha Health PLC
01 December 2017
Premaitha CEO Wins Bionow Outstanding Contribution Award
Manchester, UK - 1 December 2017: Premaitha Health PLC (AIM:
NIPT), a leading international molecular diagnostics group focused
on non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT), is proud to announce that
its CEO, Dr Stephen Little, last night received Bionow's
Outstanding Contribution award in recognition of his "significant
contribution to the biomedical sector."
Bionow is an organisation which supports business growth,
competitiveness and innovation within the biomedical and life
science sectors across Northern England.
Dr Little is a biotechnology entrepreneur, industry pioneer and
an expert in the development and commercialisation of molecular
diagnostics. A passionate advocate for Manchester and the North
West as an ideal location for biotechnology companies, he is a
highly respected personality both within the region and throughout
the global diagnostics industry.
Dr Little completed a PhD in Microbial Genetics at Heriot-Watt
University in 1982 and began his career with the pioneering UK
biotech, Celltech. He made the transition from microbial to human
genetics in 2008 when he moved to the North West to be part of a
team commercialising DNA fingerprinting at ICI Diagnostics (later
AstraZeneca), eventually leading a 30-strong research team and
launching the world's first CE-marked range of diagnostic products
- Elucigene - for human genetic analysis.
Dr Little co-founded innovative personalised medicine company,
DxS, in 2000. Using the Scorpions(TM) technology he co-developed,
DxS pioneered the use of molecular diagnostics in oncology,
applying KRAS and EGFR mutation analysis to predict the efficacy of
novel targeted therapies. DxS' TheraScreen(R) KRAS Mutation Test
for Amgen's Vectibix(R) was the first companion diagnostic of its
kind in 2006. As CEO, Dr Little grew the company to 80 staff in
2009 when DxS was sold to QIAGEN BV in a landmark deal for GBP85
million.
At QIAGEN, Dr Little became Vice President of Personalised
Healthcare, developing global companion diagnostic partnerships
with industry giants Merck Serono, AstraZeneca, Boehringer
Ingelheim, Bayer and Lilly. QIAGEN continues to thrive in
Manchester as a leading molecular diagnostics company which,
together with science-based companies, is creating hundreds of
potential jobs in the region.
In 2013, Dr Little identified a new opportunity to employ the
latest advances in Next Generation Sequencing technology to develop
tests for non-invasive prenatal screening (NIPT) and became CEO of
Premaitha Health.
In 2015, under Dr Little's leadership, Premaitha launched the
IONA(R) test as the first non-invasive in vitro diagnostic
CE-marked product for prenatal screening, estimating the risk of a
fetus being affected with Down's syndrome or other genetic
conditions. In less than two years, the IONA(R) test has grown to
become a leading NIPT product, available in over 30 countries,
generating millions of pounds of revenues and enabling pregnant
women to have widescale access to high quality, safe, fast and
accurate prenatal screening technology.
Dr Geoff Davison, CEO of Bionow, commented: "Dr Little is
unquestionably one of the most successful entrepreneurs in our
sector and he thoroughly deserves recognition for what he has
achieved."
Dr Little, said: "I am honoured to win this award and very proud
that we at Premaitha have developed a product that is enabling
widescale uptake of this more accurate and reliable screening
method by allowing clinical laboratories to offer NIPT in-house.
The result is that more and more women around the world to have
access to a safe, fast and accurate test that can reduce the number
of unnecessary invasive diagnostic tests, with their associated
risks. I am grateful to Bionow for this award."
For more information, please contact:
Premaitha Health PLC Tel: +44 (0)161
Dr Stephen Little, Chief Executive 667 1053
Officer
Barry Hextall, Chief Financial Officer
Joanne Cross, Head of Marketing
investors@premaitha.com
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP (NOMAD) Tel: +44 (0)20
Liam Murray / James Caithie 7213 0880
finnCap (Broker) Tel: +44 (0)20
Adrian Hargrave / Scott Mathieson 7220 0500
(Corporate Finance)
Andrew Burdis/Abigail Wayne (Corporate
Broking)
Vigo Communications Tel: +44 (0)20
Ben Simons / Fiona Henson / Antonia 7830 9700
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
END
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