OBD partners with Regina Maria in Romania
Oxford BioDynamics
("OBD" or the "Company" and, together with its subsidiaries, the "Group")
Oxford BioDynamics partners with Regina Maria to offer EpiSwitch clinical tests in Romania
· Regina Maria is Romania's largest private healthcare provider, serving 5 million patients
· OBD's EpiSwitch PSE and CiRT tests will be available to physicians and patients in Romania as part of Regina Maria's oncology portfolio
Oxford, UK - 12 February 2024 - Oxford BioDynamics Plc (AIM: OBD, the "Company"), a precision clinical diagnostics company bringing specific and sensitive tests to the practice of medicine based on its EpiSwitch® 3D genomics platform, and Regina Maria Private Health Network, the leading medical services provider in Romania, have signed a distribution agreement to give patients in Romania access to OBD's clinical EpiSwitch PSE (EpiSwitch Prostate Screening) and EpiSwitch CiRT (Checkpoint inhibitor Response Test) blood tests.
Regina Maria is the largest private healthcare provider in Romania, serving 5 million patients with an array of medical services. It operates 8 hospitals (3 JCI-accredited), 60 own polyclinics with over 400 partner clinics, 36 medical laboratories and over 100 blood collection points, 30 imaging centres and over 720,000 patients covered health insurance subscriptions.
Under this new agreement, Regina Maria has the right to market and offer OBD's EpiSwitch PSE and CiRT clinical tests throughout Romania, leveraging their established medical and insurance networks. Patients' blood samples will be shipped for analysis to OBD's UKAS-accredited ISO-15189 clinical testing laboratory in Oxford.
Corina Olareanu, Laboratory Director at Regina Maria, said: "We know that early and accurate diagnosis and informed therapy selection can be the difference between successful treatment and disease progression, which is why we are dedicated to equipping doctors with the most advanced diagnostics available. By offering the EpiSwitch PSE and CiRT blood tests in Romania, we are expanding our portfolio of oncology tools that can provide powerful and convenient diagnostic insights for our medical network. The partnership with OBD shows our commitment to innovation and strengthens our position as the leading provider of next-generation health services in Romania."
Iain Ross, Executive Chairman of OBD, said: "OBD welcomes Regina Maria as our partner, as we continue to work diligently to broaden availability of our diagnostic tests through partnerships. Through this collaboration, we aim to ensure that patients in Romania-the first in the EU to adopt EpiSwitch clinical tests into private healthcare-have convenient, widespread access to EpiSwitch PSE as a highly accurate test for prostate cancer risk, and EpiSwitch CiRT for those considering or on cancer immunotherapy."
EpiSwitch PSE is OBD's validated, rapid, highly accurate blood test for prostate cancer (accuracy 94%, specificity 97%, sensitivity 86%)1, significantly boosting the accuracy of PSA alone. With the PSE, more than 9 out of every 10 men who receive a positive "high likelihood" PSE will go on to have a confirmatory biopsy1. This level of performance can reduce the number of men who do not have prostate cancer being referred for unnecessary MRI scans and invasive biopsies2. These clinical results are supported by an accumulation of real-world evidence related to the clinical utility.
OBD's EpiSwitch CiRT is a smart blood test that accurately identifies patients who may respond to a widely used class of cancer therapies2-Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors (ICIs)-with a binary result (responder vs. non-responder) to support treatment planning, making more informed treatment decisions when no benefit or disease progression is observed, or when adverse events occur. The test can also identify candidates for ICI therapy where other options have been exhausted or other tests are negative for use.
- Ends -
References
1: Pchejetski D., et al. Cancers (2023). https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers15030821
2: Hunter, E., et al. Cancers (2023). https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers15102696
For more information:
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Oxford BioDynamics PLC Paul Stockdale, CFO Iain Ross, Executive Chairman
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+44 (0)1865 518910 |
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Shore Capital - Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker Broking: Fiona Conroy
OAK Securities - Joint Broker Jerry Keen / Henry Clarke / Damion Carruel
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+44 (0)20 7408 4090 +44 (0)203 973 3678 |
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WG Partners - Joint Broker David Wilson / Claes Spång / Satheesh Nadarajah / Erland Sternby
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+44 (0)20 3705 9330 |
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Vigo Consulting Media / Analyst enquiries for OBD
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+44 (0)20 7390 0230 obd@vigoconsulting.com |
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Notes for Editors
About Oxford BioDynamics Plc
Oxford BioDynamics Plc (AIM: OBD) is an international biotechnology company, advancing personalized healthcare by developing and commercializing precision clinical diagnostic tests for life-changing diseases.
Currently OBD has two commercially available products: the EpiSwitch® PSE (EpiSwitch Prostate Screening test) and EpiSwitch® CiRT (Checkpoint Inhibitor Response Test) blood tests. PSE boosts the predictive accuracy of a PSA test from 55% to 94% when testing the presence or absence of prostate cancer. CiRT is a highly accurate (85%) predictive response test to immuno-oncology checkpoint inhibitor treatments.
The tests are based on OBD's proprietary 3D genomic biomarker platform, EpiSwitch® which enables screening, evaluation, validation and monitoring of biomarkers to diagnose patients or determine how individuals might respond to a disease or treatment.
OBD's clinical smart tests have the potential to be used across a broader range of indications, and new tests are being developed in the areas of oncology, neurology, inflammation, hepatology and animal health.
The Group's headquarters and UK laboratories are in Oxford, UK. Its US operations and clinical laboratory are in Maryland, USA, along with a reference laboratory in Penang, Malaysia.
OBD is listed on the London Stock Exchange's AIM (LSE: OBD). For more information, please visit the Company's website, www.oxfordbiodynamics.com, X (@OxBioDynamics) or LinkedIn.
About Regina Maria
The REGINA MARIA Healthcare Network is the leader in the quality of medical services in Romania, being the only operator with three internationally accredited hospitals.
At the same time, REGINA MARIA has also been an innovator in the corporate medical services segment, introducing the concept of corporate subscriptions in Romania nearly 25 years ago. More recently, the company has developed specialised medical packages for SMEs and individuals, currently managing a portfolio of over 720,000 subscriptions.
In the last 10 years, REGINA MARIA has invested nearly 200 million euros in developing the Romanian medical system, by modernising or opening new facilities, purchasing high-performance equipment, and training medical teams.
REGINA MARIA has its own presence in more than half of the country's counties and provides nationwide coverage through over 400 of its own and partner clinics.
The REGINA MARIA Healthcare Network brings together more than 7,500 employees and collaborators, offering comprehensive hospitalisation and surgical services, maternity, outpatient services, imaging, laboratory testing, and stem cell storage to over 5 million patients.
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