First distribution agreement executed with Sonic Healthcare

Microba Life Sciences is pleased to announce that it has executed a commercial agreement with Sonic Healthcare Limited through a wholly owned subsidiary Douglass Hanly Moir Pathology Pty Ltd, to distribute Microba’s advanced infectious disease test MetaPanel™ in Australia.

The announcement of the MetaPanel™ Distribution Agreement marks the first commercial agreement between Microba and Sonic Healthcare following the November 29, 2022 announcement to the ASX regarding Sonic Healthcare’s $17.8m strategic investment in Microba. At the time of the investment, Sonic and Microba agreed initial terms for a strategic partnership to distribute Microba’s microbiome testing technology across Sonic Healthcare’s major markets. The execution of the Distribution Agreement now completes the first of those commercial distribution arrangements, providing exclusive distribution rights to deliver the MetaPanel™ test Australia-wide through the Sonic Healthcare Australia Pathology network.

Microba’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr Luke Reid said, “We are excited to be bringing Microba’s testing products to clinicians and their patients throughout Australia via Sonic Healthcare’s specialist national laboratory network. The MetaPanel™ technology was developed over many years and represents a world-first in pathology through comprehensive metagenomic testing for gastrointestinal infectious diseases.”

About the MetaPanel™ Technology

MetaPanel™ is an advanced test for the detection of causal agents of gastrointestinal infectious disease. The test employs Microba’s metagenomics technology to diagnose infectious pathogens such as bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses together with an assessment of virulence factors and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes to support precise treatment decisions.

The test helps clinicians avoid multiple, low-coverage, and sequential diagnostic tests that can impact treatment outcomes for vulnerable patients. The MetaPanel™ technology seeks to create a new standard of care for gastrointestinal infectious disease pathology. Microba has worked intimately with clinical microbiologists and infectious disease experts to design the target list and support clinical validation, including the Sonic Healthcare Douglass Hanly Moir team – one of the most highly respected and high-quality pathology service teams in Australia, and leading clinician Professor Paul Griffin, Director of Infectious Diseases at the Mater Hospital Brisbane.

About the Gastrointestinal Infectious Disease Pathology Market

It is estimated that there are over 16m patients globally per annum¹, including over 100k patients in Australia¹, who are high-risk and susceptible to gastrointestinal infection and receive routine testing for pathogens in a hospital setting. In addition, globally there is growing concern regarding AMR and the overuse or misuse of antibiotics, which is driving advocacy and demand for increased use of pathogen and AMR testing to guide treatment decisions and best practice antibiotic prescriptions.

Current diagnostic testing methods include culturing technologies and nucleic acid amplification tests such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR). These current testing methods are limited in their ability to cover the full diversity of pathogens, subtypes and AMR genes, and are often subject to sequential testing which delays critical treatment decisions.

Microba’s MetaPanel™ technology has the opportunity to create a new standard through employing advanced metagenomics to deliver broad coverage of pathogens, AMR and virulence factor genes from a single test to guide targeted treatment.

For further information visit: https://ir.microba.com/

References

1. Estimated based on the global number of immuno-compromised patients and other patients at high risk for gastrointestinal infection (>8.1m global and >68k Australian chemotherapy treated solid tumor cancer patients, and >1.1m global and >8k Australian hematological cancer patients DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(19)30163-9 & https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/cancer/cancer-in-australia-2021/summary, (>3m global and 12k Australian dialysis patients DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41581-022-00542-7 & https://www.anzdata.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/c04_haemodialysis_2018_ar2019_v2.0_2020619.pdf & https://www.anzdata.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/c05_peritoneal_2020_ar_2021_Chapter_v1.0_20220530_Final.pdf, (>140k global and >1k Australian Organ Transplant patients per year https://www.transplant-observatory.org/ & https://www.health.gov.au/topics/organ-and-tissue-donation/organ-and-tissue-donation-inaustralia), (>3.5m global and >25k long-stay ICU patients – estimate based on data from https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/intensive-care-beds-per-100000 and other sources)