Research and Development Update

Bioventix develops novel antibody to Vitamin D, a key biological marker linked to multiple diseases Farnham, Surrey, UK, 01 December 2010 - Bioventix plc (BVXP) ("Bioventix" or "the Company"), a UK company that specialises in the development and commercial supply of high-affinity monoclonal antibodies for applications in clinical diagnostics, announces a significant breakthrough in the creation of a unique antibody to vitamin D. The new antibody, called vitD3.5H10, could have significant utility in the manufacture of tests designed to determine the vitamin D status of patients. Vitamin D status is linked with increased risk of many chronic diseases including autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular disease, cancers, type II diabetes and infectious diseases. This new awareness of the importance of vitamin D to overall health and the consequences of vitamin D deficiency has stimulated rapid growth in the demand for vitamin D tests at hospitals and clinics. Consequently, antibodies for use in such diagnostic tests are highly sought after within the healthcare industry. The complication for vitamin D tests is that there are two different forms of vitamin D, named D3 and D2, both of which are active. Vitamin D3 is derived within the body from exposure of the skin to sunlight whereas D2 is a yeast- and plant-derived product, available in supplements and fortified foods. There is broad agreement within the medical community that vitamin D tests must recognise the two relevant forms of vitamin D equally. Using its proprietary technology, Bioventix's team of antibody scientists has created an antibody called vitD3.5H10 that recognises both relevant forms of vitamin D with equal and high affinity. The Directors believe that there is considerable commercial potential for this antibody given the rarity of the properties of vitD3.5H10 and the significant degree of difficulty in creating such an antibody. Commercial scale manufacture has already started and evaluation studies using prototype tests based on vitD3.5H10 are being conducted at a number of key Bioventix customers. Bioventix's customers are the large multinational diagnostics companies that supply blood testing equipment to hospitals around the world. Amongst the companies that operate in this field are Roche Diagnostics, Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics, Abbott Laboratories, Beckman Coulter and Ortho Clinical Diagnostics (a division of Johnson & Johnson). Peter Harrison, CEO of Bioventix said "Given the emerging importance of vitamin D to maintain general health, I am very excited about vitD3.5H10 and its future commercial prospects." The Directors of Bioventix plc accept responsibility for this announcement. Bioventix plc Peter Harrison, CEO +44 (0)1252 728001; peter.harrison@bioventix.com Keith, Bayley, Rogers & Co. Limited - PLUS Corporate Adviser David Coffman +44 (0)203 100 8300 ABOUT BIOVENTIX Bioventix (www.bioventix.com) specialises in the development and commercial supply of high-affinity monoclonal antibodies (SMAs) with a primary focus on their application in clinical diagnostics, such as in automated immunoassays used in blood testing. The antibodies created at Bioventix are generated in sheep and are of particular benefit where the target to be assayed is present at low concentration and where conventional mouse monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies derived from various species have failed to produce a suitable reagent. Bioventix was incorporated in 2003 following a management buyout of assets (including technology and intellectual property) relating to the creation of SMAs from KS Biomedix Limited. The management buyout was led by Peter Harrison and principally funded by SpringHill Bioventures Sendirian Berhad, a venture capital fund company registered and regulated by the Securities Commission in Malaysia. Since 2003, Bioventix has established a profitable commercial offering based on its SMA technology and its shares became quoted on the PLUS-Market in London in April 2010 (BVXP).

Companies

Bioventix (BVXP)
UK 100

Latest directors dealings