ProAxsis is awarded a European CE Mark

RNS Number : 6606P

NetScientific PLC

04 September 2017

 

NetScientific plc

("NetScientific" or the "Company" or the "Group")

ProAxsis is awarded a European CE Mark for their NEATstik® point-of-care lung inflammation monitoring test

London, UK - September 4^th 2017 - NetScientific plc ("NetScientific", AIM:NSCI), the transatlantic healthcare IP commercialisation group, announces an update for its portfolio company, ProAxsis. ProAxsis today announced that the product development process for NEATstik®, a novel point-of-care test for measuring active neutrophil elastase, is complete and, having successfully registered the product with a CE Mark, ProAxsis is now able to initiate sales of the NEATstik® throughout Europe.

Commenting on the news, Francois Martelet, Chief Executive Officer of Netscientific and Chairman of ProAxsis, said: "We are very excited to announce that ProAxsis has successfully completed the development phase of its lead product, the NEATstik® which utilises the company's novel ProteaseTag® technology. We believe the award of the CE mark represents a pivotal moment for the commercial development of ProAxsis and will catalyse sales and therefore near term value creation for the group."

NetScientific holds a 57% stake on a fully diluted basis in ProAxsis.

The full text of the announcement from ProAxsis can be found below.

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For more information, please contact:

NetScientific   François R. Martelet, M.D., CEO   Ian Postlethwaite, CFO	Tel: [phone]
Consilium Strategic Communications   Mary-Jane Elliott Jessica Hodgson /   Chris Welsh / Laura Thornton	Tel: [phone] [e-mail]
Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (NOMAD and Broker) Jonathan Senior / David Arch / Ben Maddison	Tel: [phone]

ProAxsis registers European CE Mark for first neutrophil elastase point-of-care test

Date: September 4th, 2017

ProAxsis Ltd today announces that the company has completed the development process for NEATstik®, a novel point-of-care test for measuring active neutrophil elastase, and has successfully registered the product with a CE Mark.  This allows the company to sell the product throughout Europe.

NEATstik® is a first-in-class diagnostic tool for the monitoring of lung inflammation and infection in patients with respiratory diseases such as COPD and bronchiectasis.  COPD is known to affect in excess of 24 million patients in Europe alone.  NEATstik® utilises the company's proprietary ProteaseTag® technology, which permits specific and sensitive capture of only the active form of neutrophil elastase, and complements the laboratory-based Active NE Immunoassay, which was registered with a CE Mark in 2016.

Professor Mona Bafadhel of the Department of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Oxford, highlighted, "Respiratory exacerbations have a significant impact on both the patient's long-term well-being and the health service caring for them.  It is vital that new tools such as NEATstik® are developed which enable us to monitor the ongoing respiratory status of patients."

Dr David Ribeiro, CEO of ProAxsis, said, "The point-of-care market was valued at $23.5 billion in 2016 and is expected to reach approximately $40.5 billion by 2022.  We are very grateful, both to our excellent development partners, and to the investors and other innovation funders who have supported this extensive development programme. The CE Mark registration
 of NEATstik® represents the most significant milestone achievement to date for ProAxsis."

To find out how ProAxsis can support the measurement of active protease biomarkers of disease, or for any further queries, please contact [e-mail]

About NetScientific

NetScientific is a transatlantic healthcare technology group with an investment strategy focused on sourcing, funding and commercialising technologies that significantly improve the health and well-being of people with chronic diseases. For more information, please visit the website at www.netscientific.net

About ProAxsis Limited:

ProAxsis is developing a range of products for the capture, detection and measurement of active protease biomarkers of diseases. Its first immunoassay measures neutrophil elastase, a leading indicator of infection and inflammation in patients with Cystic Fibrosis (CF), Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and bronchiectasis, and an important drug target. The rapid and easy-to-use tests being developed by ProAxsis incorporate patented ProteaseTags®; smart molecules which trap an active protease within a complex biological sample and enable a visual readout of its presence. ProteaseTags® provide a unique tool to identify and quantify active protease biomarkers and will assist in the clinical validation of new therapeutics.

ProAxsis is part of the NetScientific Group and is one of the Group's core portfolio companies.  The company is also supported by QUBIS, the commercialisation arm of Queens University.

 

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