TIDMNSCI
NetScientific PLC
10 January 2022
NetScientific plc
("NetScientific", the "Group" or the "Company")
ProAxsis CEO End of Year Update
London, UK - 10 January 2022 - NetScientific plc (AIM: NSCI),
the international life sciences and sustainability technology
investment and commercialisation Group, announces that its wholly
owned subsidiary ProAxsis Limited ("ProAxsis"), has provided a CEO
update on the progress it made during 2021.
The CEO update notes key achievements during 2021, including an
accelerated R&D programme, enhancement to the existing product
portfolio and development of new revenues streams for 2022 and
beyond. Much of the development work has been co-funded by grant
support, including from Invest Northern Ireland and Innovate
UK.
The key development work included the development of NE Premium
assay with 100-fold improved sensitivity to the current product;
the in-licensing from the University of Geneva in February 2021 of
a highly novel protease-related immunoassay for use in the
monitoring of Bone Health in conditions such as osteoporosis; the i
n-licencing in June 2021 from AstraZeneca of their
internally-developed COVID-19 serology (antibody) assay; and the
development of a 2-plex protease multiplex panel, which enables
simultaneous measurement of two key proteases (neutrophil elastase
and proteinase-3), which have been associated with COVID-19 symptom
severity.
John Clarkson, Chairman of NetScientific plc and ProAxsis
commented : "We are delighted with the continued progress being
made at ProAxsis with accelerated developments, new products and
additional revenue streams in 2022. In these challenging times, we
can help deliver real benefits to the community, through the
application of ProAxsis' expanding expertise and are looking
forward to a successful 2022."
NetScientific holds 95% of ProAxsis on a fully diluted
basis.
The full text of the announcement from ProAxsis, which can be
viewed in full below is also available online here:
https://proaxsis.com/proaxsis-update-report/
###
As 2022 commences, I am pleased to provide an update on the
progress made with regard to a number of the company's key
objectives announced during 2021. The global coronavirus pandemic
continues to create uncertainty in many markets, including in
Respiratory Medicine research, but based on the strong underlying
financial position established via Netscientific's acquisition of
outstanding shares in late 2020, the company has continued to
target three key areas of growth, and thanks to the expertise of
its core scientific team, has made significant progress in each of
these:
-- An accelerated R&D programme
o The NE Premium assay has been created to offer improved
sensitivity compared with the company's existing ProteaseTag Active
NE Immunoassay, thereby enabling usage in a wider range of
biological samples. The development process for this assay has been
partially supported by an R&D grant from Invest Northern
Ireland and has proceeded extremely well with the assay now in the
later stages of development prior to its anticipated registration
with a CE Mark and commercial launch in 2022. The company's target
of a 100-fold improvement in sensitivity has been successfully
achieved.
-- An enhancement to the existing product portfolio
o In February 2021, the company secured an agreement with the
University of Geneva, providing ProAxsis with development and
global commercialisation rights of a highly novel protease-related
immunoassay for use in the monitoring of Bone Health in conditions
such as osteoporosis. The K-POSTn assay format has since been
modified by the ProAxsis team to offer maximum sensitivity and
ease-of-use, and the company is planning to register the assay with
a CE Mark in 2022.
-- Development of new revenue streams, including as part of the
global response to the COVID-19 pandemic
o In mid-2021, ProAxsis executed an unprecedented deal for a
company of its size when we agreed a Worldwide licensing deal with
AstraZeneca for their internally-developed COVID-19 serology
(antibody) assay. Whilst much of the focus of the scientific
community and the public to date has been on antigen tests, to
enable identification of current COVID-19 infection, we believe
that there will be an increasing emphasis on antibody testing, to
identify which individuals have detectable levels of antibodies
following vaccination and/or COVID-19 infection. This is evidenced
by data highlighting that booster shots are needed to raise
antibody levels in order to better protect individuals against the
recently-identified Omicron variant of the virus.
Since gaining access to the product, the ProAxsis team have
continued to work closely with the team at AstraZeneca to modify
the original prototype version of the assay, adapting various
components and processes to create an easy-to-use, high-performance
plasma-based assay for the identification of IgG antibodies raised
against the COVID-19 virus for use in a clinical trial setting. Due
to the nature of the coronavirus pandemic (increasing number of
known variants, range of vaccines utilised globally, etc.), the
assay development process is complex and time-consuming but the
company has now run numerous samples, indicating that the assay is
highly specific and sensitive for distinguishing between positive
and negative samples.
In H1 2022, a World-renowned clinical partner who has supported
multiple COVID-related assay development programmes, will conduct
several of the required assay validation steps, which necessitates
access to a cohort of very specific clinical samples, and which
will provide key data for the dossier required to register the
assay with a CE Mark. In parallel, the company continues to explore
additional novel assay formats, and routes to market, for the
product.
-- Supported by Innovate UK, the company has successfully
developed the first 2-plex protease multiplex panel, which is now
being validated for use in a range of biological samples. This
assay enables simultaneous measurement of two key proteases
(neutrophil elastase and proteinase 3) which have been associated
with COVID-19 symptom severity, utilising a widely available
multiplex platform. We are currently in discussion with potential
commercialisation partners for this highly novel product and
anticipate making a further announcement on the progress of this
assay in due course.
These new products are forecast to contribute significant
incremental sales in 2022. Additionally, the company has continued
to expand both its commercial and scientific teams, and expects to
announce further news on its laboratory expansion plans during
2022.
For more information, please contact:
NetScientific Via Walbrook PR
Ilian Iliev, CEO
WH Ireland (NOMAD, Financial Adviser and Broker)
Chris Fielding / Darshan Patel +44 (0)20 7220 1666
Walbrook PR
Nick Rome/ Paul McManus/ 07748 325 236, 07980
Nicholas Johnson 541 893
or 07884 664 686
About NetScientific
NetScientific plc (AIM: NSCI) is a holding company, that invests
in, develops, commercialises and realises shareholder value in life
sciences/healthcare, sustainability and technology companies, which
offer significant growth potential predominately in the UK and USA,
as well as globally.
With the acquisition of EMV Capital in August 2020, the Group
doubled its portfolio from 8 to 17 companies, either through direct
subsidiary, balance sheet investment or capital under advisory,
varying from start-up private companies to publicly listed
equities.
NetScientific delivers shareholder returns through a proactive
and hands-on management approach to their portfolio companies;
identifying, investing in, and helping to build game-changing
companies. The Group targets value inflection points and the
release of value through partial or full exits from trade sales,
public listings, or equity sales. The Company has a strong
transatlantic and growing international presence, providing
attractive expansion prospects.
NSCI can deploy a capital-light investment structure; utilising
the power of the PLC Brand, and the NetScientific balance sheet to
anchor future investments and achieve a multiplier effect by
attracting 3rd party investment for the portfolio companies.
NetScientific is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, and
was admitted to trading on AIM, a market operated by the London
Stock Exchange, in 2013 (website: www.netscientific.net ).
About ProAxsis
ProAxsis Limited is a commercial-stage diagnostics company,
based in Northern Ireland, and with a rapidly growing client list
of pharmaceutical companies and academic laboratories.
The company promotes a range of assay kits designed for the
specific measurement of active protease biomarkers of disease. Our
easy-to-use tests incorporate patented "ProteaseTags(R)"; smart
molecules which trap an active protease within a complex biological
sample and enable a visual readout of its presence.
The company has registered a CE Mark for activity-based
immunoassays targeting Neutrophil Elastase (NE) and Proteinase 3,
as biomarkers of lung infection and inflammation in chronic
respiratory diseases such as COPD, cystic fibrosis and
bronchiectasis.
This technology has been translated in to a point-of-care test
(NEATstik(R)), to enable ongoing monitoring of active NE levels.
Recently published data has shown that measuring active NE levels
using NEATstik(R) enables identification of patients with airway
bacterial infection and those patients at highest risk of suffering
pulmonary exacerbations over the subsequent 12 months.
In addition to proteases, the company also has significant
expertise in the measurement of other inflammatory biomarkers,
including IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-alpha.
Aside from the provision of assays, ProAxsis is able to offer
sample analysis at its purpose-built laboratory facility in
Belfast, and is currently supporting a number of pharmaceutical
company-sponsored Phase I, II and III clinical trials.
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