This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR.
5 May 2021
Oncimmune Holdings plc
("Oncimmune" or the "Company")
Return of China Rights to EarlyCDT product portfolio
Enables strategic optionality to support access to the US capital markets
Oncimmune Holdings plc (AIM: ONC.L), the leading global immunodiagnostics group, today announces that it has successfully agreed to acquire the intellectual property (IP) and distribution rights for the EarlyCDT® technology in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and Hong Kong (HK) from Genostics Company Limited (Genostics), allowing the Company to pursue the optimum route to market in this important territory.
Since granting Genostics the exclusive rights to EarlyCDT products in the PRC and HK in January 2018, Oncimmune and Genostics have collaborated to develop a lung panel with superior performance in Greater China and Asia-Pacific, given the prevalence of EGFR-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the region. The Asia-specific lung panel has been used in a multi-centre study, previously announced on 10 May 2019, and which is now due to complete in China in H1 2021. Data from this study are intended to be used to support approval by the China National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) for the use of the Asia-specific lung cancer test in the PRC.
Under the agreement announced today, all material, IP, data, and goodwill will be transferred back to the Company, and Oncimmune will be paid in full for the royalties due in January 2021 under the existing Technology Licencing Agreement. In consideration, Oncimmune has agreed to pay a fixed amount for the return of the IP and distribution rights, with the majority of the value of the consideration being conditional on fixed future events.
With accelerating growth of Oncimmune's ImmunoINSIGHTS business, the Company intends to explore options available to it to access the US capital markets in the near term. The termination of Oncimmune's partnership with Genostics and return of the EarlyCDT product rights to the PRC and HK markets provides Oncimmune with further strategic optionality which could support a path to the US capital markets.
As part of the agreement, and as previously announced, Genostics has agreed to a lock-in of its remaining shareholding in Oncimmune (currently 4.73 per cent. of the issued share capital) for a period of 12 months from 6 May 2021, except under certain limited exceptions.
Dr Adam M Hill, CEO of Oncimmune said: "We are grateful for the collaboration with Genostics and its parent company, Gene Group Holdings Ltd, over the past three years and are pleased with the progress that has been made with our Asia-specific lung panel. However, as both companies consider their future on different equity capital markets, the continuing success of the EarlyCDT product portfolio, both in and outside of PRC and HK, requires Oncimmune to own the IP and distribution rights. We are delighted that Genostics has agreed to continue to participate in Oncimmune's success as a shareholder, and Oncimmune looks forward to progressing its market access plans imminently."
For further information:
Oncimmune Holdings plc
Adam Hill, Chief Executive Officer
Matthew Hall, Chief Financial Officer
Zeus Capital Limited (Nominated Adviser)
Andrew Jones, Daniel Harris, James Hornigold
+44 (0)20 3829 5000
N+1 Singer (Joint Broker)
Aubrey Powell, Harry Gooden, Iqra Amin
+44 (0)20 7496 3000
WG Partners (Joint Broker)
David Wilson, Claes Spång
+44 (0)20 3705 9321
Media enquiries:
FTI Consulting
Ben Atwell, Michael Trace, Alex Davis
+44 (0)20 3727 1000
About Oncimmune
Oncimmune is a leading immunodiagnostics developer, primarily focused on the growing fields of immuno-oncology, autoimmune disease and infectious diseases. Oncimmune has a diversified and growing revenue from its portfolio of diagnostic products to detect early-stage cancer and a contract discovery and development service-based platform, delivering actionable insights into therapies to its pharmaceutical and biotech partners.
Our intimate understanding of the human immune system enables us to harness its sophisticated response to disease to detect cancer earlier and to support the development of better therapies. The key to improving cancer survival is early detection and better selection for therapy. As a company, we are driven by our passion to improve cancer survival and to give people extra time.
Oncimmune's ImmunoINSIGHTS platform enables life science organisations to optimise drug development and delivery, leading to more effective targeted as well as safer treatments for patients. Oncimmune's immunodiagnostic technology, EarlyCDT, can detect and help identify cancer on average four years earlier than standard clinical diagnosis. Our lead diagnostic test, EarlyCDT Lung, targets a vast market estimated to grow to £3.8bn by 2024. With over 200,000 tests already performed for patients worldwide and its use being supported by peer reviewed data in over 12,000 patients, we are poised to become an integral component of future lung cancer detection programmes, globally.
Oncimmune, headquartered at its laboratory facility in Nottingham, UK, and has a discovery research centre in Dortmund, Germany.
For more information, visit www.oncimmune.com
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