Collaboration with Diagnostica Stago

11 February 2013

Immunodiagnostic Systems Holdings plc

IDS and Diagnostica Stago to Collaborate in the Field of Coagulation and Haemostasis

Immunodiagnostic Systems Holdings plc ("IDS"), a leading producer of manual and automated specialist diagnostic testing kits and instrumentation for the clinical and research markets, is today pleased to announce a significant collaboration with Diagnostica Stago ("Stago"), a leading French based producer of coagulation and haemostasis diagnostic kits and instrumentation. 

Following a successful feasibility project, IDS and Stago have established a collaboration partnership to assist Stago in developing coagulation and haemostasis assays for use on the IDS-iSYS immunoanalyzer. As part of this collaboration Stago has also agreed to help fund IDS' development of the IDS-iSYS mark II instrument and eventually deploy it in their fields of expertise.

Under the terms of the collaboration, Stago will pay IDS €3.5m in a series of milestone payments and also contribute €1m to the development of the IDS-iSYS mark II. Both activities are expected to conclude over the next 2-3 years. In addition, IDS expects to earn revenues from the sale of instruments, ancillary products and royalties. 

Under the terms of a pre-existing agreement dated 31 March 2005 between Alain Rousseau and Biocode Hycel (acquired by IDS in 2007), Mr. Rousseau, Engineering Director of IDS PLC and co-owner of the intellectual property rights of the IDS-iSYS, is entitled to 30% (equating to, in total, EUR1.05m) of the milestone payments to be paid by Stago to IDS relating to the licensing of the instrument technology. Payments to Mr. Rousseau will only be made when funds are received by IDS. With the exception of Mr. Rousseau who is deemed a related party, the Board of IDS, having consulted with Peel Hunt LLP, considers that the terms of any payments to be made to Mr. Rousseau are fair and reasonable in so far as its shareholders are concerned.

Patrik Dahlen, CEO of IDS, said: "Our collaboration with Stago reinforces our belief that the IDS-iSYS platform is one of the leading technologies in the field of specialty diagnostics. Stago is an excellent company with a great reputation in its areas of expertise and shares IDS' values of delivering high quality tests to the specialty IVD market. We look forward to working with Stago in the development of our respective next generation instrumentation platforms."

Bertrand Bonnot, COO of Stago, said: "This collaboration agreement is an important milestone for our company whereby accessing the new technology developed by IDS will help us to develop further our offer for high performance and high quality specialty tests supporting our commercial positions in the highly demanding field of coagulation and haemostasis."

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About Immunodiagnostic Systems Holdings PLC

The Group operates in the in-vitro diagnostics ("IVD") market by designing, manufacturing and selling immunoassay kits as well as its automated analyser, the IDS-iSYS System. The IDS product range is used to measure or detect particular substances within a sample, thus aiding the diagnosis or monitoring of a disease or providing information for research studies.

http://www.idsplc.com

About Stago

Stago, created in 1945, is an IVD company which develops and markets reagents and automated systems for the investigation of blood coagulation disorders. Stago is a leading player in Haemostasis. Headquarters, as well as R&D, manufacturing and logistics activities are located mainly in the Paris area (France). Stago products are available in more than 100 countries in the world. In 2012, Stago Group had over 2,000 employees worldwide.

http://www.stago.com