CardioGenics And Merck In Second Product Agreement
EXHIBIT
99.1
CardioGenics And Merck In
Second Product Agreement
MISSISSAUGA, Ontario, July 14,
2010 -- CardioGenics Holdings Inc. (OTCBB: CGNHD), developer of the
ultra-sensitive QL Care™ Point-Of-Care (POC) analyzer and products for the
immunoassay segment of the In-Vitro Diagnostics market, announced that the
Company‘s subsidiary, CardioGenics Inc., has entered into an agreement with
Merck Chimie S.A.S. to adopt its proprietary biological-linking technology to
Merck-supplied magnetic beads designed to increase yields in antibody
manufacturing.
This is
the second product agreement between the two companies. The first covers a
10-year supply agreement for CardioGenics‘ silver-coated magnetic beads that
Merck will distribute to manufacturers of medical laboratory
analyzers.
The beads
covered by today’s announcement are manufactured by Merck Chimie and designed to
extract antibodies from cell culturing media and sera, potentially reducing the
cost of making antibody-based drugs, one of the fastest growing areas of the
pharmaceutical industry. Traditionally, antibodies are extracted from media via
stationary chromatography, which is a lengthy process. Utilizing magnetic
particles for this purpose was recently introduced to speed up the extraction
and increase production efficiency. Antibody extraction products are roughly a
$350 million market today. Utilizing magnetic beads for this purpose was
introduced recently and is a rapid growth area, which is expected to double in
the next five years.
“We are
very pleased to broaden our relationship with Merck Chimie with a second product
agreement,“ stated Xxxxx Xxxxx, Chief Executive Officer of CardioGenics. “The
technology for linking biological material for diagnostic beads is quite similar
to linking biological material for antibody extraction beads. Being in the
forefront of developing ultra-sensitive magnetic beads and related encapsulation
technologies, the new agreement gives us an additional opportunity to showcase
our proprietary expertise to one of the largest distributors of magnetic beads,”
continued Xx. Xxxxx.
This
second agreement with Merck differs from the first in that it involves beads
manufactured by Merck for antibody manufacturing, a non-competing market to
CardioGenics silver-plated beads. Under the agreement announced today,
CardioGenics will be paid an agreed upon fee per gram of beads shipped to Merck
Chimie. This represents a new product line for Merck Chimie, which it intends to
develop into a major part of its magnetic beads business.
The first
agreement involves CardioGenics' silver-plated beads that Merck will sell to
manufacturers of large medical analyzers. Under this first agreement that covers
paramagnetic beads for large medical diagnostic analyzers, CardioGenics will
receive 30 percent of Merck’s sales of beads supplied by
CardioGenics. Merck is currently the largest distributors of
diagnostic magnetic beads, a $1 billion annual worldwide market.
Both
applications employ paramagnetic beads, but each application requires beads with
different characteristics suited to their use. The magnetic beads being utilized
under each of the Merck agreements are fundamentally different from the
proprietary magnetic beads used by CardioGenics in its QL CareÔ
Analyzer. The company expects to submit a 510K application to
the FDA for the QL CareÔ Analyzer and a test for
Troponin-I, a key cardiac marker, during the first quarter of 2011. The portable
device provides lab-like test accuracy in 15 minutes vs. the 2.8 hours required
for results from a central lab.
Through
its operating subsidiaries, the Company develops ultra-sensitive analyzers and
other products targeting the immunoassay segment of the Point-Of-Care IVD
testing market. It has developed the QL Care™ Analyzer, a proprietary and
ultra-sensitive Point-Of-Care immuno-analyzer, which will run a number of
diagnostic tests under development, the first of which will be a series of
cardiovascular diagnostic tests. As part of its core proprietary technology, the
Company has also developed a proprietary method for silver coating paramagnetic
microspheres (a fundamental platform component of immunoassay equipment), which
improve instrument sensitivity to light. The Company's principal offices are
located in Xxxxxxxxxxx, Xxxxxxx, Xxxxxx. For more information please visit xxx.xxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.
Safe
Harbor Statement - Certain statements made herein that are not historical are
forward-looking within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995 and may contain forward-looking statements, with words such as
"anticipate, "believe," "expect," "future," "may," "will," "should," "plan,"
"projected," "intend," and similar expressions to identify forward-looking
statements. These statements are based on the Company's beliefs and the
assumptions it made using information currently available to it. Because these
statements reflect the Company's current views concerning future events, these
statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. The actual results
could differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking
statements. In any event, undue reliance should not be placed on any
forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this press
release. Accordingly, reference should be made to the Company's periodic filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
2
Contacts:
Investor
Relations:
Redington
Inc.
CardioGenics
Desk
Tel:
000.000.0000
-and-
Xxxxx
Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxxxxx Associates LLC
Xxxxxx
Xxxxxx, 212.370.4500
Media
Relations:
The
Investor Relations Group
Xxxxx
Xxxxxxxxxxx, 212.825.3210
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