Re Agreement

RNS Number : 3859M

ValiRx PLC

24 May 2010

 



24 May 2010

ValiRx Plc

("ValiRx" or "the Company")

VALIRX EXPANDS ITS SELFCHECK RANGE OF

HEALTH SCREENING PRODUCTS

ValiRx Plc (AIM: VAL), a life science company with a focus on cancer diagnostics and therapeutics for personalised medicine, is pleased to announce an important expansion to its SELFCheck range of over the counter health screening products.

ValiMedix, the Company's sales and distribution division, has concluded an agreement with Biovei Inc. ("Biovei") to market Biovei's Chlamydia self-testing kit under its SELFCheck brand within the UK and Ireland.

The Chlamydia self-testing product is a single-use diagnostic test for use at home or at Sexually Transmitted Disease ("STD") clinics.  The detection of Chlamydia bacteria is shown as a colour change on the swab, which is produced within about 10 minutes.

Chlamydia infection rates amongst women are increasing markedly in the UK and Europe with infection being spread easily and being made worse by the fact that male partners often exhibit no symptoms of the infection and as a result, are often unaware of their own infection. If left untreated, women may develop problems with infertility in later life including ectopic pregnancies and damage to the fallopian tubes.

The current gold standard is PCR testing which requires urine samples to be sent off for laboratory testing with analysis and test results taking up to 4-5 days. In contrast, the SELFCheck Chlamydia kit provides the result within about 10 minutes. The global Point of Care (diagnostic testing at or near the site of patient care) market grew by 11% in 2008 and was valued at US$12.6 billion according to the 2009 Espicom report entitled - The global market for Point of Care diagnostics . Growth has been driven by the wider adoption of POC technologies and new product launches.

Biovei's Chlamydia product will be supplied to ValiMedix for re-sale at what the directors believe to be a substantial discount to the prevailing PCR test prices and, under the terms of the agreement, the granting of licences for ValiMedix to expand sales into other territories is under discussion. The kit is anticipated to be available in the UK during Q3 2010.

Dr Satu Vainikka, CEO commented:

"It has always been our intention to substantially grow our range of SELFCheck products and to address an increasing range of illnesses whose early detection and prevention can have a life-changing impact, both on a personal/human level, but also on society's increasing inability to fund healthcare.  This excellent agreement with Biovei allows ValiRx to grow its revenues and to take the group closer to our goal of building a commercial self-funding biopharmaceutical company."

For more information, please contact:

Enquiries:

ValiRx plc
Dr. Satu Vainikka	Tel: [phone]
	www.valirx.com
WH Ireland Limited - Nominated Adviser
Robin Gwyn	Tel: [phone]
Hybridan LLP - Broker
Claire Noyce	Tel: [phone]
Peckwater PR
Tarquin Edwards	Tel: [phone]
	[e-mail]

Notes for Editors

ValiRx Plc

ValiRx Plc is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel technologies and products in oncology therapeutics and diagnostics. The product focus is in the epigenomic analysis and treatment of cancer, but the technologies can be applied to other fields as well, such as neurology and inflammatory diseases.

The Company listed on AIM in October 2006 and is creating a portfolio of innovative products through investment in specific development projects.  It actively manages projects within this portfolio as a trading company and is not an investment vehicle.  The ValiRx business model spreads the risks of life science technology developments by minimising financial exposure and running a set of projects to defined commercial endpoints.  This maximises returns to shareholders by adding value at the earlier stages where value increases per investment unit are the greatest. 

The Company operates through the following divisional companies:

·      ValiMedix is the sales and distribution division of ValiRx

·      ValiBio is the diagnostic research and development division of ValiRx

·      ValiPharma is the therapeutics division with two embedded technologies primarily directed at the treatment of cancers. Of particular note is GeneICE, ValiRx's technology for controlling rebellious genes, which was awarded a Eurostars grant to the value of €1.2 million to fund the development of the GeneICE products through preclinical stages in cancer treatments

ValiMedix Ltd is a UK based company dedicated to building itself into one of Europe's largest Point of Care diagnostics companies. Initially this will be achieved through a programme of acquisitions accompanied by the in-licensing of products and product ranges which may be generic or with associated intellectual property that can be commercialised through existing established distribution channels to end users. Once the company is significantly cash positive it will commission its own new products and generate new intellectual property through a series of collaborative partnerships with organisations known to the management team. The core management team has extensive experience of sales and marketing in professional and pharmacy channels including the Over The Counter ("OTC") diagnostic sectors in the UK and overseas.

Over The Counter (OTC) products, SELFCheck and others

OTC screening products have evolved significantly since the introduction of the first generation of products such as pregnancy tests. Current products include screening for cancers, tropical diseases such as malaria, drugs of abuse, as well as the better known devices aimed at cholesterol assessment and selected acute diseases including several Sexually Transmitted Infections ("STI")s such as HIV.

The majority of the OTC tests sold today rely on either chemical or antibody reactions that produce a detectable colour change to read the result. The core technologies employed are reliable and robust with advancement and growth in the sector dependent on accuracy, reproducibility and time of reaction. Tests that have historically taken a number of hours can now be carried out in minutes.

Point of care (POC) products offer rapid, easy to use methods for quantitative or qualitative assessment of a range of disease conditions.  The benefit of such tests lies in the availability of test results within a matter of minutes and without a requirement to send samples to centralised laboratories, also removing any need for multiple appointments involving a clinic. The availability of such products via pharmacies and supermarkets appeals to wide sections of the community that find it difficult or inconvenient to make clinic appointments during the working week.

The Market for POC testing - Target Markets

The cost and provision of cost effective healthcare has become a major challenge in the UK and EU where an ageing population, an economic downturn and the ever increasing cost of medical treatment have seen a change in the strategic planning of healthcare delivery. 

Acceptance of POC screening tests offers direct savings in terms of early detection of disease and faster clinical and medical interventions where abnormal outcomes occur. Equally important is the speedy 'all-clear' diagnosis for patients who would have exhibited negative test results but who would still have used up valuable laboratory resource.

The development of drop-in clinics and the expansion of pharmacy services (particularly those prescribing pharmacies) will become a fertile market for POC products. In addition ValiMedix is looking to market its products to Hotel/Spa clinics, health clubs (gyms) as well as the occupational health sector, universities and schools.

 

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