ABN 88 098 640 352 576 Swan Street Richmond VIC 3121 Telephone: +61 3 9208 4200 I Facsimile: +61 3 9208 4201 www.healthlinx.com.au OVPLEX TO BE LAUNCHED IN SINGAPORE IN JULY
OvPlex expanding global distribution to third market
South East Asia targeting a market opportunity that exceeds 1.5 million tests 29 April 2010, Melbourne: The HealthLinx Limited (ASX:HTX) OvPlex ovarian cancer diagnostic will be released in Singapore in July making it the third OvPlex launch in 12 months. INEX the distribution partner has the rights to distribute the superior diagnostic in Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and India. INEX plans to use Singapore as the platform to launch into other South East Asian countries including Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and ultimately India which presents a significant market opportunity. Collectively these jurisdictions equate to an opportunity of over 1.5 million tests and the royalty per test that will be received by HealthLinx will approximately SGD$30 (approximately A$24). INEX Chairman Associate Professor Mahesh Choolani, said the OvPlex panel was a potentially life saving technology and a "substantial improvement" to existing tests which were only suitable in late stage disease. "OvPlex is a superior performing diagnostic to the use of CA125 alone for the diagnosis of ovarian cancer, he said. "CA125 has been used often because no alternative existed until now." Singapore is now the third country to launch the technology and follows Australia and the United Kingdom. Managing director of HealthLinx Ltd, Mr Nick Gatsios described OvPlex as a revolutionary blood test. "The difference between current blood tests and OvPlex is that OvPlex measures five different substances in blood that are associated with ovarian cancer and builds a diagnostic based on that information rather than relying on a single marker for the disease," he said. "By putting the five biomarkers together, we significantly increase the chances of detecting ovarian cancer early." The test will be available in Singapore clinics and through private GPs from July at a cost of approx SGD $200. In February 2010 BioSpectrum magazine, one of the highest circulating industry magazines in Asia Pacific voted OvPlex Product of the Year. Around the world 240,000 new cases of ovarian cancer are diagnosed each year, with more than 130,000 women dying annually. Ovarian cancer is regarded as the most lethal reproductive tract cancer because 75 per cent of women are not diagnosed until late stage disease.
Mr Gatsios said these women had only a 20 per cent chance of surviving five years if diagnosed at late stage, but five year survival rates could increase to 80 per cent if diagnosis was at the early stage of the disease. "That is why it is so important to try and develop better tests for diagnosing ovarian cancer, particularly early stage disease. That is where we can really make a difference." The company is also finalising preparations for the second larger study that will screen 1150 samples using the existing OvPlex panel and an additional two novel biomarkers: AGR2 and HTX010. The study will be a robust comparison of sensitivity and specificity for the detection of ovarian cancer, particularly for early stage diagnosis in symptomatic women. This is essential to ensure the result is a first in class diagnostic that will be widely accepted in the global market. The companys expectation is to increase the performance of OvPlex from the current 94 per cent to greater than 97.
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