REG - Deepverge PLC Abingdon Health PLC - MoU with Abingdon Health for lateral flow tests

DeepvergeAnnouncement

29/03/2022 07:00

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RNS Number : 3127G  Deepverge PLC  29 March 2022

29 March 2022

 

DeepVerge PLC

 

("DeepVerge" or "the Company" or "the Group")

 

DeepVerge and Abingdon Health plc sign MoU for Commercial Agreement for
Lateral Flow Tests in Modern Water Household Devices

Life Science Portfolio Enlarged with Wellness Range of Lateral Flow Tests

 

DeepVerge plc (AIM: DVRG), announces that it has signed a Memorandum of
Understanding ("MoU") with Abingdon Health plc ("Abingdon") leading to a
Commercial Agreement for development and manufacture of a range of Lateral
Flow Tests ("LFT") for the Modern Water, Labskin and Skin Trust Medical
divisions of the Group.

 

 

Integrating LFT technology into a Modern Water hand held test device for
households:

The LFT analogue devices detect dangerous pathogens and chemicals in household
drinking and wastewater. This adds an extra layer of detection to the Modern
Water range of equipment and services by incorporating a LFT into a hand held
mobile unit. The results can be digitally scanned using a mobile App with the
potential to incorporate Abingdon's proprietary AppDx® technology.

 

DeepVerge has distribution channels in more than 60 countries and this has the
potential to play a key role in the identification of the source of localised
hotspots of a range of pathogens in drinking and wastewater at household
level. Authorities can be alerted through Modern Water's Live alert system to
prevent the spread of the disease or contamination to the wider community.

 

Future developments for water testing that are complementary to the current
Modern Water portfolio include the Pepper Mottle Mosaic Virus i  as a
potential marker for human faecal matter in water and the automated
multiplexing project bringing in Influenza A ii , influenza B iii ,
Cryptosporidiumiv etc. into the testing format on a hand-held device.

 

Extending Life Science Wellness testing:

In parallel with the current development of the Microtox(®)BT (breath test),
new complementary lateral flow tests are to be added to the life science home
test portfolio including hormone analysis (menopause and the skin changes
during this time), stress levels (cortisol), vitamin D (possibly other
vitamins linking into the supplement recommendations), and other health
markers including diabetes, heart and liver function.

 

The MoU has been signed to enable the potential integration of the respective
technologies of both DeepVerge and Abingdon technology platforms. DeepVerge
and the Abingdon will enter into a longer-term Commercial Agreement, with
Abingdon manufacturing and DeepVerge commercialising these exciting new
products through its production, sales, marketing and distribution channel
partners around the world.

 

 

 

MoU

The key terms of the MoU (non-binding) are as follows:

 

-     signing of a commercial agreement anticipated by the end of April
2022;

-     End Products covering (i) transfer of some of the current Modern
Water assays into LFT format; (ii) developments for water testing and (iii)
wellness testing to complement the Skin Trust Club test portfolio;

-     Abingdon shall grant to DeepVerge a non-exclusive, royalty bearing,
non-assignable sub-licensable irrevocable, worldwide licence to use the
Abingdon technology for the purpose of using the Materials as a component in
the End Products only;

-     The Company shall pay single digit percentage royalties to be agreed
on Net Sales of the End Product.

 

Gerard Brandon CEO DeepVerge plc, commented:

"DeepVerge's business model is built on collaborating and cooperating with
partners such as Abingdon Health who have technologies  and large production
capacity to deliver solutions to major societal problems such as water
contamination and the identification of human biomarkers for a range of health
conditions.  Surveillance and testing of waterways for the presence of
bacteria and viruses has gained worldwide recognition and this collaboration
is yet another example of the diagnostics industry working together to rapidly
bring effective solutions in the increasing global health risks."

 

Chris Yates, CEO of Abingdon Health plc, commented:

"We are delighted to be working with the DeepVerge team to deliver a range of
lateral flow tests that have been shown to have the ability to capture the
SARS-CoV-2 virus and transform this technology into a household water and
wastewater detection device for a range of dangerous pathogens.  Our
facilities in the UK have a large capacity and we are excited to be able to
play a key role in the prevention of the spread of a range of diseases in the
home."

What is a lateral flow immunoassay?

A lateral flow test, or immunoassay is a simple to use diagnostic device used
to confirm the presence or absence of a target analyte, such as pathogens or
biomarkers in humans or animals, or contaminants in water supplies,
foodstuffs, or animal feeds. The most commonly known type of lateral flow
rapid test strip is the pregnancy test or testing the presence of the COVID-19
virus.

 

 Integumen plc                                   Gerard Brandon, CEO         +44 (0) 7340 055 648

 SPARK Advisory Partners Limited                 Neil Baldwin/Andrew Emmott  +44 (0) 113 370 8974

 (Nominated Adviser)

 Turner Pope Investments (TPI) Limited (Broker)  Andy Thacker/James Pope     +44 (0) 20 3657 0050

 

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION AS STIPULATED UNDER
THE UK VERSION OF THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION NO 596/2014 WHICH IS PART OF
ENGLISH LAW BY VIRTUE OF THE EUROPEAN (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018, AS AMENDED.  ON
PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT VIA A REGULATORY INFORMATION SERVICE, THIS
INFORMATION IS CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.

 

About DeepVerge plc (www.deepverge.com)

DeepVerge is an environmental and life science group of companies that
develops and applies AI and IoT technology to analytical instruments for the
analysis and identification of bacteria, virus and toxins; Utilising
artificial intelligent data analytics to scientifically prove the impact of
skincare product claims on skin

 

About Abingdon Health plc (www.abingdonhealth.com)

 

Abingdon Health is a world leading developer and manufacturer of high-quality
rapid tests across all industry sectors, including healthcare and COVID-19.
Abingdon is the partner of choice for a growing global customer base and takes
projects from initial concept through to routine and large-scale manufacturing
and has also developed and marketed its own labelled tests.

 

The Company 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. This ability has a significant role to play in improving life across
the world. To support this aim Abingdon Health has also developed AppDx®, a
customisable image capturing technology that transforms a smartphone into a
self-sufficient, standalone lateral-flow reader.

 

Founded in 2008, Abingdon Health is headquartered in York, England.

 

 

 i  Pepper mild mottle virus:  In an article from the Applied and
Environmental Microbiology Journal, it was found that PMMoV could be a
potential indicator of faecal pollution. Their results demonstrate that PMMoV
is widespread and abundant in wastewater from the United States, suggesting
the utility of this virus as an indicator of human faecal pollution.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepper_mild_mottle_virus

 

 ii  Influenza A virus causes influenza in birds and some mammals and is the
only species of the genus Alphainfluenzavirus of the virus family
Orthomyxoviridae. Strains of all subtypes of influenza A virus have been
isolated from wild birds, although disease is uncommon. Some isolates of
influenza A virus cause severe disease both in domestic poultry and, rarely,
in humans. Occasionally, viruses are transmitted from wild aquatic birds to
domestic poultry, and this may cause an outbreak or give rise to human
influenza pandemics.

 iii  Influenza B virus is known only to infect humans and seals. This limited
host range is apparently responsible for the lack of associated influenza
pandemics in contrast with those caused by the morphologically similar
influenza A virus as both mutate by both antigenic drift and reassortment

 

 

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