Commercialisation Partnership in Russia

RNS Number : 4360E

Oncimmune Holdings PLC

04 July 2019

 

4 July 2019

Oncimmune Holdings plc

("Oncimmune" or the "Company")

Oncimmune signs commercialisation partnership in Russia

·    Commercialisation partnership with R-Pharm for use of EarlyCDT^® Lung in screening for early detection of lung cancer

·    Oncimmune to receive revenues of at least £5 million, including milestone payments of up to £2.75 million; R-Pharm to invest up to £3.5m in screening infrastructure

·    Further validation of Oncimmune's commercialisation strategy, driving penetration and revenue growth in another major healthcare market.

Oncimmune Holdings plc (AIM: ONC.L), a leading global immunodiagnostics group, today announces it has signed an exclusive commercial partnership with R-Pharm JSC ("R-Pharm") to use EarlyCDT Lung for the early detection of lung cancer in Russia and the member states of the Eurasian Customs Union (Republic of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan) (the "Territory"). Within the terms of the agreement Oncimmune has granted an option to R-Pharm to extend the use of EarlyCDT Lung into the Commonwealth of Independent States countries of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Georgia.

This commercial partnership with R-Pharm is for an initial term of five years and will generate revenues of at least £5 million, including milestone payments of £2.75 million during this period. R-Pharm will commercialise EarlyCDT Lung in both lung cancer screening and nodule risk assessment in the region.

Russia has 38 million smokers, the highest number in Europe^[1]. There were more than 60,000 lung cancer diagnoses in 2018, with approximately 55,000 deaths^[2]. The strategic intent for R-Pharm is to maximise the value of EarlyCDT Lung within a new screening programme in Moscow and, eventually, across Russia.

R-Pharm will drive local product registration of EarlyCDT Lung in Russia, which has already begun. R-Pharm will also bear all sales and marketing costs associated with commercialisation, expected from H2 2019. The partnership also anticipates that some manufacturing for the local market will be transferred to R-Pharm in the medium term.

Dr Adam M Hill, CEO of Oncimmune commented: "Russia has significant potential as a screening market with a large high-risk population. Following the successful ECLS study, this partnership further highlights the growing international acceptance of EarlyCDT Lung's utility as a screening device for early stage lung cancer. I am delighted to have Alexey and his team at R-Pharm join us to unlock the potential of screening in Russia, broadening further the commercial reach of our EarlyCDT product portfolio."

Alexey Repik, Chairman of R-Pharm, commented: "We are delighted to be forming this strategic partnership with Oncimmune to tackle one of the most important health challenges in Russia. By introducing EarlyCDT Lung, first at the health system level in Moscow before rolling out a national screening programme, we aim to save lives and costs for the health system by detecting lung cancer sooner. R-Pharm will be investing up to £3.5 million to build the infrastructure needed to establish the screening programme in Moscow and bring EarlyCDT Lung-led screening to Russia."

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For further information:

Oncimmune Holdings plc

Adam Hill, Chief Executive Officer

Matthew Hall, Chief Financial Officer

[e-mail]

Zeus Capital Limited (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker)

Andrew Jones, Mike Seabrook

[phone]

Bryan, Garnier & Co Limited (Joint Broker)

Phil Walker, Dominic Wilson

[phone]

Media enquiries:

FTI Consulting

Brett Pollard, Andrew Ward

[e-mail]

[phone]

About Oncimmune

Beating cancer, one test at a time

Oncimmune is a leader in the development, manufacture and commercialisation of cancer specific immunodiagnostics for the screening, detection and care of cancer. Oncimmune also develops precision medicine and patient stratification tools for leading pharmaceutical multinationals in both autoimmune disease and immuno-oncology. Oncimmune is working to change how cancer is diagnosed and treated. Its patented technology detects evidence of the body's natural response to cancer, enabling detection four years or more before standard clinical diagnosis. Oncimmune's tests facilitate clinical decision-making and are complementary to diagnostic technologies, making them valuable additions to established and new care pathways. Oncimmune partners with leading developers and distributors to make our technology available globally.

Oncimmune was founded in 2002 and launched its platform technology in 2009, followed by its first commercial tests, EarlyCDT Lung and EarlyCDT^® Liver. To date, over 155,000 tests have been performed for patients worldwide. EarlyCDT Lung was also used in what is believed to be the largest randomised controlled study for the early detection of lung cancer using biomarkers, the successful National Health Service (NHS) ECLS study of 12,210 high-risk smokers in Scotland which demonstrated EarlyCDT Lung reduced the incidence of patients with late-stage lung cancer or unclassified presentation at diagnosis, compared to standard clinical practice.

Oncimmune, headquartered at its laboratory facility in Nottingham, UK, has a discovery research centre in Dortmund, Germany and a CLIA lab in Kansas, US as well as an office in London, UK and a partner representative office in Shanghai, China. Oncimmune joined the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange in May 2016 under the ticker ONC.L.

What is EarlyCDT Lung?

A blood test using a panel of seven immunogenic proteins for the testing of tumour-related antibodies specific to lung cancer.

For more information, visit www.oncimmune.com.

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[1] http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/337434/Tobacco-Control-Fact-Sheet-Russian-Federation.pdf?ua=1

[2] https://gco.iarc.fr/today/data/factsheets/populations/643-russian-federation-fact-sheets.pdf

 

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