Second Strategic Partner for Coastal Genomics

RNS Number : 4664C

Yourgene Health PLC

21 June 2021

 

Yourgene Health plc

("Yourgene" or the "Group" or the "Company")

Second Strategic Partner for Coastal Genomics

Manchester, UK - 21 June 2021:   Yourgene (AIM: YGEN), the international molecular diagnostics group, announces that Yourgene Health Inc., the Company's wholly-owned US subsidiary, has signed a Master Supply Agreement ("MSA") (the "Agreement") with a leading US laboratory services provider ("the Partner"). The Agreement provides the Partner with non-exclusive use of the Group's Ranger^TM Technology, which was acquired with Coastal Genomics Inc ("Coastal") in August 2020 and is expected to generate at least $1m over the life of the contract, with the potential for additional contracts to be awarded under the MSA.

The Agreement is for an initial five-year period and grants the Partner non-exclusive access to the Group's Ranger® Technology for clinical applications using automated DNA size selection, with the initial focus primarily on non-COVID infectious disease testing. The Partner will utilise the NIMBUS Select  assay ready workstation for high-throughput nucleic acid size selection. The NIMBUS Select is a proprietary instrument combining Yourgene's Ranger® Technology in partnership with the Microlab NIMBUS platform from Hamilton Company, a leading global instrument manufacturer.

The Coastal acquisition has enabled the Company to extend its offering for DNA sample preparation technology, allowing its customers and partners to access a wider range of diagnostic and genomics solutions in the US, Canadian and other international markets. Under the terms of the Coastal acquisition, this Agreement meets the criteria for a Qualifying Commercial Agreement with a Strategic Partner, triggering the second earn-out milestone. Consequently, approximately 5 million shares in Yourgene Health plc will be issued directly or in exchangeable form through its Canadian subsidiary to the selling shareholders of Coastal within the next 28 days. These shares will be subject to orderly market provisions for a period of 12 months from issue. Further details will be announced shortly once the legal details have been finalised.

Lyn Rees, CEO of Yourgene commented: "We are thrilled to have signed an MSA with another prestigious diagnostic leader as we grow the Company's blue-chip partner base in the US, our largest addressable market. The MSA is also supporting the Company's recent expansion into infectious disease testing. This latest agreement builds on the separate reproductive health Supply Agreement announced on 1 March 2021 in the US, and further accelerates our commercial footprint in the largest diagnostics market in the world.

"We respect the wishes of our Partner to remain anonymous at this time, highlighting the competitive offering that underpins our Ranger®Technology."

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of the UK Market Abuse Regulation and the Directors of the Company are responsible for the release of this announcement.

Yourgene Health plc Lyn Rees, Chief Executive Officer		Tel: [phone] [e-mail]
Barry Hextall, Chief Financial Officer
Joanne Cross, Director of Marketing
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP (NOMAD)		Tel: [phone]
Liam Murray / James Caithie / Ludovico Lazzaretti
N+1 Singer (Joint Corporate Broker)		Tel: [phone]
Aubrey Powell / Tom Salvesen / George Tzimas
Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (Joint Corporate Broker)		Tel: [phone]
Nicholas Moore / Matthew Blawat / Ben Maddison
Walbrook PR Ltd (Media and Investor Relations)	Tel: [phone] or  [e-mail]
Paul McManus / Lianne Cawthorne		Mob: [phone] / Mob: [phone]

About Yourgene Health

Yourgene Health is an international molecular diagnostics group which develops and commercialises genetic products and services. The group works in partnership with global leaders in DNA technology to advance diagnostic science.

Yourgene primarily develops, manufactures, and commercialises simple and accurate molecular diagnostic solutions, for reproductive health, precision medicine and infectious diseases. The Group's flagship products include non-invasive prenatal tests (NIPT) for Down's Syndrome and other genetic disorders, Cystic Fibrosis screening tests, invasive rapid aneuploidy tests, and a recent extension into the oncology space with DPYD genotyping.

The launch of Yourgene Genomic Services has enabled Yourgene to offer a global laboratory service network equipped to be a full life-cycle partner for clinical, research and pharmaceutical organisations to support partners at the preclinical, clinical, and post-market stages to develop, manufacture, obtain regulatory approval and commercialise new products and services. In addition, Yourgene Genomic Services offers an NIPT and high throughput COVID testing service.

In August 2020, Yourgene acquired Coastal Genomics, Inc., a sample preparation technology company based in Vancouver, Canada, enabling the Company to extend its offering and IP portfolio in the DNA sample preparation sector. The acquisition increased Yourgene's geographical penetration into the US and Canada, supplementing existing coverage in the UK, Europe, MEA and Asia.

Yourgene Health is headquartered in Manchester, UK with offices in Taipei, Singapore, the US and Canada, and is listed on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market under the ticker "YGEN". For more information visit www.yourgene-health.com and follow us on twitter @Yourgene_Health.

 

END

 

 

MSCFLFLAREIIFIL