DGAP-News: Expedeon AG: Expedeon AG signs commercial agreement with Sona Nanotech

PRESS RELEASE
06 August 2019

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Expedeon AG signs commercial agreement with Sona Nanotech
Agreement will address limitations in development of multiplex point-of-care Lateral Flow Assay diagnostic tests

Halifax, Canada, Heidelberg, Germany and Cambridge, UK, 06 August 2019: Expedeon AG (Frankfurt: EXN; ISIN: DE000A1RFM03; Prime Standard) and Sona Nanotech Inc. (CSE: SONA) ("Sona"), today announced they have entered into a commercial agreement to address limitations in development of complex, multiplex point-of-care (POC) lateral flow assay (LFA) diagnostic tests.

Under the terms of the agreement, Expedeon will provide Gold nanoparticle, bioconjugation technologies and expertise, and Sona will offer its lateral flow assay development services. The collaboration will enable the rapid development of more complex / multiplex immunoassays into LFAs, from proof of principle, through scale-up and transfer to manufacturing.

The lateral flow assay market is expected to reach USD 8.7 billion by 2023 from an estimated USD 6.0 billion in 2018, at a CAGR of 7.7% according to a recent market research report.^[1] The lateral flow assay market comprises several stakeholders such as raw material suppliers, processors, end-product manufacturers, distributors, and regulatory organisations in the supply chain. The demand side of this market is characterised by the hospitals & clinics, diagnostic laboratories, home care, food & beverage, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical & biotechnology companies, and the environmental testing industry. A significant portion of this market is comprised of POC diagnostics.

POC diagnostics or near-patient testing is a medical diagnostic test that allows physicians and medical staff to correctly attain real-time, lab-quality diagnostic results within minutes rather than hours. LFAs are among the most widely used POC diagnostic tests due to their rapidity, ease of use, long term storage and application in resource-limiting settings.

Multiplex lateral flow assays provide an ideal solution to the need for simple, rapid, and accurate POC tests, for applications such as infectious disease or communicable illness diagnostics. However, challenges in both development and transfer to manufacturing have previously limited the number of multiplex lateral flow assays brought to the market. This new collaboration between Expedeon and Sona will address these limitations, enabling simultaneous detection of multiple analytes with distinct visual differences between the test lines in a fully scalable, transferable and cost-effective way.

Dr Heikki Lanckriet, CEO, Expedeon AG, said: "The adoption of point-of-care diagnostics is increasing globally, due to factors such as high prevalence of infectious diseases in developing countries, increasing incidence of target diseases, and rising preference for home healthcare. Despite the growing market, there are several bottlenecks in the development of point of care assays. We are looking forward to working with Sona to overcome these challenges, without compromising on quality or reproducibility."

Darren Rowles, President and CEO, Sona Nanotech, commented: "Signing this agreement with Expedeon further strengthens the productive partnership between our organisations and our commitment to delivering value to our combined global customer base."

Expedeon (booth #4259) and Sona Nanotech (booth #4257) will be exhibiting and promoting their collaboration at the 71^st AACC Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo, August 4^th - 8^th, at the Anaheim Convention Centre, California, USA.

ENDS

Notes to editors

For further information, please contact:

For Expedeon AG:

Expedeon
Dr. Heikki Lanckriet
CEO/CSO
Phone: +44 1223 873 364
Email: heikki.lanckriet@expedeon.com
Investor website: www.investors.expedeon.com

MC Services AG (Investor Relations and International Media Relations)
Raimund Gabriel
Managing Partner
Phone: +49 89 210228 0
Email: expedeon@mc-services.eu

Zyme Communications (Trade and UK Media Relations)
Katie Odgaard
Phone: +44 (0)7787 502 947
Email: katie.odgaard@zymecommunications.com

For Sona Nanotech Inc
Darren Rowles
President and Chief Executive Officer
Phone: (902) 442-7192
Email: Darren Rowles darren@sonanano.com

About Expedeon AG: www.expedeon.com
Expedeon is an enabler of exciting advances in medical science and patient care. The Company's core technologies, innovative products and services are used in research laboratories around the world, enabling scientists to push the boundaries of research and product development, and play an integral part in new diagnostic tools being brought to market. With applications spanning the entire workflows in genomics, proteomics and immunology, Expedeon's technologies both accelerate and simplify research and make new and cost-effective processes available to biopharmaceutical and diagnostic organisations alike, thereby underpinning its customers' development and commercialisation objectives. Expedeon's products are sold through a direct sales force and several distribution partners in Europe, the USA and Asia. Expedeon AG has offices in Germany, Spain, UK, USA and Singapore. The Company is listed on the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Ticker: EXN; ISIN: DE000A1RFM03).
 

About Sona Nanotech Inc.: https://sonanano.com/
Sona Nanotech Inc. is a nanotechnology life sciences firm that has developed two proprietary methods for the manufacture of rod-shaped gold nanoparticles. The principal business carried out and intended to be continued by Sona is the development and application of its proprietary technology for use in multiplex diagnostic testing platforms that will improve performance over existing tests in the market.
Sona's gold nanorod particles are CTAB (cetyltrimethylammonium) free, eliminating the toxicity risks associated with the use of other gold nanorod technologies in medical applications. It is expected that Sona's gold nanotechnologies may be adapted for use in applications, as a safe and effective delivery system for multiple medical treatments, pending the approval of various regulatory boards including Health Canada and the FDA.
Sona is a publicly listed company on the Canadian Securities Exchange existing under the laws of Nova Scotia, with its operations in Nova Scotia.

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^[1] https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/lateral-flow-assay-market-167205133.html