Manchester-based molecular diagnostics firm Yourgene Health plc announced that Yourgene Health Inc, the company’s wholly-owned US subsidiary, has signed a Master Supply Agreement (MSA) with “a leading US laboratory services provider.”
Yourgene said: “The agreement provides the partner with non-exclusive use of the group’s Ranger Technology, which was acquired with Coastal Genomics Inc in August 2020 and is expected to generate at least $1m over the life of the contract, with the potential for additional contracts to be awarded under the MSA.
“The agreement is for an initial five-year period and grants the partner non-exclusive access to the group’s Ranger Technology for clinical applications using automated DNA size selection, with the initial focus primarily on non-COVID infectious disease testing.
“The partner will utilise the NIMBUS Select assay ready workstation for high-throughput nucleic acid size selection.
“The NIMBUS Select is a proprietary instrument combining Yourgene’s Ranger Technology in partnership with the Microlab NIMBUS platform from Hamilton Company, a leading global instrument manufacturer.
“The Coastal acquisition has enabled the company to extend its offering for DNA sample preparation technology, allowing its customers and partners to access a wider range of diagnostic and genomics solutions in the US, Canadian and other international markets.
“Under the terms of the Coastal acquisition, this agreement meets the criteria for a Qualifying Commercial Agreement with a Strategic Partner, triggering the second earn-out milestone.
“Consequently, approximately 5 million shares in Yourgene Health plc will be issued directly or in exchangeable form through its Canadian subsidiary to the selling shareholders of Coastal within the next 28 days.
“These shares will be subject to orderly market provisions for a period of 12 months from issue.”
Yourgene shares fell about 7%.
Yourgene CEO Lyn Rees said: “We are thrilled to have signed an MSA with another prestigious diagnostic leader as we grow the company’s blue-chip partner base in the US, our largest addressable market.
“The MSA is also supporting the company’s recent expansion into infectious disease testing.
“This latest agreement builds on the separate reproductive health Supply Agreement announced on 1 March 2021 in the US, and further accelerates our commercial footprint in the largest diagnostics market in the world.
“We respect the wishes of our partner to remain anonymous at this time, highlighting the competitive offering that underpins our Ranger Technology.”