Senior Appointment & Anticipated Director Change

RNS Number : 3875B

Premaitha Health PLC

20 September 2018

 

Premaitha Health plc

("Premaitha" or the "Group")

Senior Commercial Appointment and Anticipated Directorate Change

Manchester, UK - 20 September 2018: Premaitha Health plc (AIM: NIPT), a leading international molecular diagnostics group, is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Hayden Jeffreys to a senior commercial role within the Group and that he will be appointed to the Board as Group Commercial Director upon completion of the customary directorate appointment due diligence.

Hayden has over 20 years' experience in the clinical diagnostics industry, much of which has been spent within molecular diagnostics. He has held a number of senior international commercial and operational roles and has a proven track record of formulating and implementing commercial strategy, driving the next stage of global growth for businesses.

Most recently, Hayden was Chief Operating Officer of Cambridge Epigenetix, a privately held, early-stage diagnostic company. Prior to Cambridge Epigenetix, Hayden was Interim Chief Executive Officer for ERBA Diagnostics, a US-based publicly listed company. During his tenure at ERBA Diagnostics, he made a significant impact on business performance and on the organisation.

In addition, Hayden previously held senior positions within the ERBA group, including Head of Corporate Business Development and Strategy for ERBA Mannheim and Lumora, where he led its acquisition strategy and was responsible for licensing and partnership opportunities. He has also held senior positions at Lab21 and Gen-Probe. Hayden has expertise in leading and implementing business transformation including developing effective structures within organisations.

Hayden will be appointed to the board of directors of Premaitha in due course, subject to customary directorate appointment due diligence. A further announcement containing the disclosures required under the AIM Rules for Companies will be issued when this process has been completed.

Lyn Rees, Chief Executive Officer of Premaitha, commented: "Having worked in diagnostics businesses that provide both products and services, Hayden has an excellent understanding of the commercial dynamics of our business. He has a proven track-record of driving traction in new technologies within molecular diagnostics and a keen understanding of regulatory environments, which we will leverage as we seek to develop new partnerships and grow our footprint across new territories.

"I believe Hayden will be a valuable addition to the management team as we look to accelerate revenue growth and take advantage of a truly global opportunity."

For more information, please contact:
Premaitha Health PLC Lyn Rees, Chief Executive Officer Barry Hextall, Chief Financial Officer Joanne Cross, Head of Marketing [e-mail]	Tel: [phone]
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP (NOMAD) Liam Murray / James Caithie	Tel: [phone]
finnCap (Broker) Geoff Nash / Scott Mathieson (Corporate Finance) Abigail Wayne (Corporate Broking)	Tel: [phone]
Vigo Communications Ben Simons / Fiona Henson / Antonia Pollock [e-mail]	Tel: [phone]

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 current primary focus is on non-invasive prenatal tests (NIPT) for pregnant women - an emerging, multi-billion dollar global market - although the Group intends to expand its product range into other areas of clinical genetics.

Premaitha's first product, the IONA® 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® 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® 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 solution that operates on the same Thermo Fisher next-generation sequencing platform as Premaitha's IONA® 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.

Since May 2018, the Group has traded as Yourgene Health outside of Europe (but remains as Yourgene Bioscience in Taiwan), reflecting the increased scope of the business in other areas of clinical genetics further to reproductive health; but maintains the Premaitha Health brand within Europe.

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.

 

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