Agendia and Ferrer in sales agreement for cancer diagnostic services in European markets

17 September 2008

Agendia BV and Ferrer inCode have announced an agreement that will give Ferrer exclusive rights to sell two of Agendia's signature cancer diagnostic services — MammaPrint, a prognostic test that uses a 70-gene signature to indicate risk of breast cancer tumor recurrence, and CupPrint*, a gene expression profiling service which offers a fast and reliable method of identifying the primary tumour site in Cancer of Unknown Primary (CUP).

Under the exclusive distribution agreement, Ferrer has gained rights to sell the tests in Germany, France, Italy, and Portugal, in addition to a current agreement signed in 2007 covering Spain.

"We are confident that Ferrer inCode is the right partner for the successful expansion of MammaPrint and CupPrint into these additional European markets," said Dr. Bernhard Sixt, president and chief executive officer of Agendia. "This agreement will allow us to increase the availability of our services to more customers in these countries, with the result being that more patients and their physicians will have access to the valuable information provided by these tests."

MammaPrint is a clinically proven, highly accurate gene expression profiling test that offers healthcare professionals a unique personalized prognostic analysis to determine a patient's individual risk of recurrence of breast cancer.

MammaPrint, the first In Vitro Diagnostic Multivariate Index Assay (IVDMIA) to acquire market clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (February 2007) provides information that helps physicians and patients to make more effective treatment decisions, which may include minimizing the use of chemotherapy, thereby avoiding serious potential side-effects. CupPrint is an innovative diagnostic service that identifies the origin of the primary tumour in Cancer of Unknown Primary, which accounts for up to five percent of all new cancer referrals and is the fourth most common cause of cancer mortality worldwide.

"Having followed the development of MammaPrint and CupPrint, we are excited about the opportunity for Ferrer inCode to expand the commercialization of these gene expression profiling tools in these four European countries," said Dr. Carlos de Lecea, vice president, International and Business Development at Ferrer. "Both tests provide valuable information that can be used to guide the therapeutic decision making process of oncologists, opening the door to a more personalized treatment for cancer patients."

The companies say they are also discussing the possibility of future cooperation and expansion into other parts of the world.

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