Abingdon Health
plc
("Abingdon" or "the
Company")
Four sexually
transmitted disease lateral flow self-tests complete design
freeze.
Exclusive global
manufacturing plus UK and European distribution rights via
strategic partnership with USA-based Find Out From Home
LLC.
York,
U.K. 25 March 2024: Abingdon Health plc
(AIM: ABDX), a leading international lateral flow contract
development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), announces the
completion of 'design freeze' for four sexually transmitted disease
self-tests via a CDMO contract (the "Project")
on behalf of its customer, Devyn LLC ("Devyn").
Further to the above,
Abingdon announces that it has entered into a strategic partnership
with Find Out From Home LLC ("Find
Out"), a subsidiary of
Devyn, via a service for equity agreement (the "Agreement").
Highlights:
·
LFDs for self-test use
for HIV, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and Syphilis have completed
design freeze.
·
Abingdon will continue
to provide regulatory and technical transfer CDMO services to Find
Out throughout H2-FY24.
·
As part of the
strategic partnership agreement, Abingdon will take a significant
minority equity stake in Find Out.
·
Following provision by
Abingdon of CRO and CDMO services over the past twelve months the
initial four products are now at design freeze and ready for
transfer to manufacture.
·
Abingdon will be the
exclusive manufacturer and regulatory partner for these
products.
·
Abingdon will lead
distribution of these products in UK and Europe, via current and
new routes to market, with rights to provide these products to
retailers in own brand format.
Background
Abingdon has been
providing CRO and CDMO contract services to Find Out From Home for
the past twelve months and four of the five STD lateral flow tests
have now reached design freeze stage, with 1 additional test to
follow in due course. As part of the strategic partnership Abingdon
will provide exclusive CDMO services to Find Out, including
becoming exclusive manufacturer and regulatory partner, and will
also lead the distribution of these innovative products in
Europe.
Target
Market
The global sexually
transmitted disease testing market size is predicted to grow at a
CAGR of over ~6% from 2023 to 2035(1). The market is
projected to grow to $145 billion by the end of 2035, up from a
revenue of $95 billion in the year 2022. Rising cases of sexually
transmitted diseases (STDs) in the young adult population,
subsequent unsafe sex, and declining awareness of safe sex among
young adults are expected to increase transmission of the
disease.
The
Agreement
Abingdon has signed an
Agreement whereby it will invest, over time, the equivalent of up
to £500k in fees due to Abingdon from Find Out as consideration
("Consideration").
In exchange, Abingdon will acquire, pro
rata to the Consideration
invested, equity ownership in Find Out of up to
23%.
Chris Yates, CEO of
Abingdon, will become a director of Find Out upon Abingdon becoming
a shareholder.
Find Out is a newly
formed entity in which Devyn is currently a 100% shareholder. Find
Out has not yet completed a reporting period meaning there are no
profits or net assets reported within the entity. Since its
incorporation, assets including intellectual property, have been
transferred to Find Out from Devyn.
Chris Yates, CEO
of Abingdon Health plc, commented: "We are delighted to
announce the strategic partnership with Find Out From Home. We have
been working with the team at Find Out for the past year and are
pleased that the initial set of four STD lateral flow tests have
now reached design freeze. We look forward to deepening our
partnership with Find Out going forward and ultimately launching
these rapid STD tests into the European market. We believe there is
a significant unmet need for accurate, user-friendly STD lateral
flow tests and this partnership underlines our approach in
supporting customers on bringing innovative lateral flow tests from
"idea to commercial success".
Yannick Namia,
CEO of Find Out From Home LLC., commented:
"Our vision to
make testing for STDs easy and affordable to everyone is coming to
fruition through our partnership with Abingdon Health. Our first
test kits will hit the market in Europe and we plan to deepen this
partnership with other markets and other types of test in the
future."
(1)
Sexually Transmitted Disease Testing Market revenue to exceed USD
145 Billion by 2033, says Research Nester
(yahoo.com)
Enquiries
Abingdon Health
plc
|
www.abingdonhealth.com/investors/
|
Chris Yates,
Chief Executive
Officer
|
|
Chris Hand,
Non-Executive
Chairman
|
|
|
|
|
|
Singer Capital
Markets (Sole Broker and Nominated Adviser)
|
Tel: +44 (0)20 7496
3000
|
Tom
Salvesen
Peter Steel
Alex Bond
Jalini
Kalaravy
|
|
|
|
|
|
Further
Information
About Abingdon Health
plc
Abingdon
Health is a leading lateral flow contract development and
manufacturing organisation (CDMO) offering its services to an
international customer base across industry sectors that include
clinical, animal health, plant health, and environmental testing.
Abingdon Health has the internal capabilities to take projects from
initial concept through to routine and large-scale manufacturing;
from "idea to commercial success."
The Company's CDMO
division offers product development, regulatory support, technology
transfer and manufacturing services for customers looking to
develop new assays or transfer existing laboratory-based assays to
a lateral flow format. Abingdon Health aims to support
the increase in need for rapid results across many industries and
locations and produces lateral flow tests in areas such as
infectious disease, clinical testing including companion
diagnostics, animal health and environmental testing. Faster access
to results allows for rapid decision making, targeted intervention
and can support better outcomes.
Abingdon Health's
Abingdon Simply Test range of self-tests is an ecommerce platform
that offers a range of self-tests to empowers consumers to manage
their own health and wellbeing. The Abingdon Simply Test
ecommerce site offers
consumers a range of information to support them in making informed
decisions on the tests available. In addition, the site provides
Abingdon's contract services customers with a potential route to
market for self-tests. The Abingdon Simply Test range is also sold
through international distributors and through other channels in
the UK and Ireland such as pharmacy chains.
Founded in
2008, Abingdon Health is headquartered in York,
England.
For more information
visit: www.abingdonhealth.com