Issued on behalf of Premaitha Health plc
Manchester, UK: Thursday, 1 October 2015
Illumina Patent Infringement Proceedings Update
Manchester, UK – 1 October 2015 – Premaitha Health plc (“Premaitha” AIM: NIPT) an innovative molecular diagnostics company employing the latest advances in DNA analysis technology to develop tests for non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) has been informed that Illumina, Inc. has today added a third patent to the two previously asserted in a UK patent suit against Premaitha in the High Court of Justice, Chancery Division, Patents Court in the UK.
The patent asserted in this filing is EP2183693.
The Directors believe that the IONA® test does not infringe these patents as claimed by Illumina and the alleged infringement is unfounded.
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About Premaitha Health
Premaitha is an innovative molecular diagnostics company employing the latest advances in DNA analysis technology to develop tests for non-invasive prenatal screening (NIPT) and other applications. Premaitha’s flagship product, the IONA® test is the first non-invasive in vitro diagnostic product for prenatal screening enabling clinical laboratories to offer CE-marked NIPT in-house for the first time.
The IONA® test estimates the risk of a fetus having Down’s syndrome or other serious genetic diseases. The IONA® test has a higher detection rate and lower false positive rate than existing screening tests, giving pregnant women, their families and their doctors greater confidence in the result and reducing the need for unnecessary invasive follow-up tests and the associated anxiety and stress.
The IONA® test is a complete diagnostic system that is simple and standardised, enabling Premaitha’s clinical laboratory customers to perform the test in their own facilities. This supports Premaitha’s strategy of accelerating the broad dissemination of NIPT tests to ensure that their benefits are available to pregnant women everywhere.
Premaitha is listed on the London Stock Exchange (AIM). Its R&D, manufacturing and commercial operation is located at Manchester Science Park, UK.
For further information please visit www.premaitha.com or email iona@premaitha.com
For more information, please contact:
Premaitha Health plc
Dr Stephen Little, Chief Executive Officer
Joanne Cross, Head of Marketing
Tel: +44 (0) 161 667 6865
+44 (0) 7736 843052
Email: investors@premaitha.com
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP (NOMAD)
Liam Murray / Avi Robinson
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7148 7900
Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited (Broker)
Robert Naylor / Freddy Crossley / Maisie Rose Atkinson
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7886 2500
Instinctif Partners (Media)
Melanie Toyne Sewell / Jen Lewis / Emma Barlow
Tel: +44 (0) 207 457 2020
Email: premaitha@instinctif.com
