Enters Into Distributor Agreement for EmbryoCellect
Adelaide, Jan 23, 2015 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Reproductive Health Science Limited (
ASX:RHS) ("RHS" or the "Company") is pleased to advise it has signed a 3-year exclusive distribution agreement with SAR Healthline (P) Ltd for the sale of its lead product EmbryoCellect(TM) in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. EmbryoCellect(TM), which is used in IVF (In Vitro Fertilisation) for PGS (Pre-Implantation Genetic Screening), will be added to SAR Healthline's comprehensive range of quality global IVF products.
Highlights
- Distributor agreement signed to significant markets through Indian-based distributor
- RHS confirms PGS training at Morula IVF in Jakarta, Indonesia
- Morula IVF will be the first Indonesian clinic to offer PGS
SAR Healthline was founded in 1997 and has since established 18 offices thoughout India giving it the ability to comprehensively supply products to a large and widely distributed IVF market. SAR Healthline also educates the reproductive medicine community through regular product seminars and workshops at its training centre in Chennai.
India has one of the highest numbers of IVF cycles in the world with an estimated 80,000 IVF cycles per annum and annual market growth of 10-15%. IVF is provided through more than 500 IVF centres across the country.
Last month RHS announced a distributor agreement with Turkey-based distributor Tani Medikal. The Company is in ongoing discussions with other IVF clinics and distributors nationally and internationally and will continue to update on these important commercial steps.
RHS is also pleased to advise it has successfully trained laboratory and clinical staff at Morula IVF (In Vitro Fertilisation ) and Atma Jaya University in Jakarta in the use of its lead product EmbryoCellect(TM) for use in IVF for PGS (Pre-Implantation Genetic Screening). This particular IVF clinic was chosen due to their strong interest in providing a PGS service and an embedded reputation as a lead adopter of innovation. A press conference was held to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement between Bundamedik, the parent company of Morula IVF and RHS. The President of Indonesia's IVF society PERFITRI, Prof Sugiharto also spoke about the introduction of PGS in Indonesia. The conference was attended by a large contingent of the Indonesian press and more than 40 printed, online and television articles have been published since.
The training in Indonesia has provided RHS with in-market feedback on the ease of use of EmbryoCellect and establishes Morula IVF as a lead adopter being the first IVF clinic to offer PGS in Indonesia. It is Morula IVF's intention to establish an in-house service and commence offering PGS to their patients in April 2015 once they have completed internal validation of EmbryoCellect.
Commentary on market trends
The international IVF rate varies from country to country but has been estimated to continue to grow at 10% per annum through to 2020. The rate of increase will vary between jurisdictions with the newer entrants having the greater growth potential.
Country IVF cycles Population IVF cycles per year (millions) per million peopleTurkey 45,000 76 586.9India 80,000 1,265 63.2 Indonesia 3,500 252 13.9Australia 61,774 23 2,604.6 China 250,000 1,361 183.7USA 163,039 320 509.1
The rate of PGS in these IVF cycles will also vary and will be dependent on the local regulations and advice of clinicians to their individual patients. It has been estimated that PGS was used on 3% of IVF cycles globally in 2013, up from 2% in 2012. RHS has assumed an uptake rate of PGS per IVF cycle as being around 20% by 2020.
About Reproductive Health Science Ltd
Reproductive Health Science (ASX:RHS) is an advanced biotech company that has successfully developed a test to assess embryos for chromosomal abnormalities prior to implantation as part of an of In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) cycle. The two component system has an immediate application to improve the success rate of IVF. The Company's lead product EmbryoCellect(TM) is aimed at improving health and research outcomes through the application of its frontier technologies with the initial primary focus of improving IVF success. Launched in 2014, EmbryoCellect(TM) contains reagents for 20 tests at a list price of AUD$3,600 per kit. RHS's assumption for business modelling purposes, based on IVF industry experience, is that there are 4 embryos per IVF cycle.
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