16th Mar 2015 09:52
LONDON (Alliance News) - Premaitha Health PLC said Monday it has inked a deal with Esperite NV to allow Espirite's Swiss subsidiary Genoma to have a right to use Premaitha's IONA test for its non-invasive prenatal testing services, but at the same time it was accused by a US rival of allegedly infringing patents with some aspects of the test.
The IONA test is used to estimate the risk of a fetus having Down's syndrome, Edward's syndrome and Patau's syndrome by analysing cell-free fetal DNA from a sample of the mothers blood. The company got its CE mark for the test last month, meaning it meets the quality standards allowing it to be sold in Europe.
"The completion of this agreement so soon after receiving our CE mark is also a major achievement. We hope this will be the first of many agreements for the IONA test and we look forward to a strong and fruitful partnership with Genoma," Chief Executive Officer Stephen Little said of the Esperite deal.
Separately, NASDAQ listed Illumina Inc has filed a patent infringement suit against Premaitha in the UK, over two patents licensed to Illumina from Sequenom Inc covering the use of cell-free fetal DNA for non-invasive prental testing. Illumina's case accuses Premaitha's IONA test of infringement.
"Illumina filed this suit to actively defend its intellectual property rights. We will also continue to monitor the NIPT field and file patent suits where appropriate when our patents are infringed," said Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Illumina Charles Dadswell in a statement.
Premaitha noted the filing of the suit, and said it believes the IONA test does not infringe the patents as claimed by Illumina.
Shares in Premaitha rose early Monday after news of the Espirite deal, but were trading down 32% at 18.50 pence later after news of the patent suit.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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