Oxford BioDynamics (OBD) , a clinical diagnostics company developing precision medicine tests, announced a new distribution agreement with Regina Maria Private Health Network, the leading medical services provider in Romania. The agreement will make OBD's clinical EpiSwitch PSE (prostate screening) and EpiSwitch CiRT (checkpoint inhibitor response) blood tests available to patients in Romania.
Under the agreement, Regina Maria will be able to market and offer the two clinical tests throughout Romania, leveraging its medical and insurance networks. Patients' blood samples will be shipped for analysis to OBD's UKAS-accredited clinical testing laboratory in Oxford.
Iain Ross, Executive Chairman of OBD, commented on the agreement: "OBD welcomes Regina Maria as our partner, as we continue to work diligently to broaden availability of our diagnostic tests through partnerships. Through this collaboration, we aim to ensure that patients in Romania ... have convenient, widespread access to EpiSwitch PSE as a highly accurate test for prostate cancer risk, and EpiSwitch CiRT for those considering or on cancer immunotherapy."
Corina Olareanu, Laboratory Director at Regina Maria, added: "We know that early and accurate diagnosis and informed therapy selection can be the difference between successful treatment and disease progression, which is why we are dedicated to equipping doctors with the most advanced diagnostics available."
Regina Maria is the largest private healthcare provider in Romania, serving 5 million patients. It operates 8 hospitals, 60 own polyclinics with 400+ partner clinics, 36 medical labs, 100+ blood collection points, 30 imaging centres, and over 720,000 patients covered health insurance subscriptions.
OBD's EpiSwitch PSE is a well-validated, rapid, and 94%-accurate blood test for prostate cancer, which significantly boosts the accuracy of PSA testing. The test's high accuracy significantly reduces the number of false positives, in turn reducing unnecessary MRI scans and invasive biopsies.
OBD's EpiSwitch CiRT is a smart blood test that accurately identifies patients who may respond to a widely used class of cancer therapies - immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) - with a binary result to support treatment planning.
OBD shares gained 7% on the announcement. The agreement materially expands Regina Maria's oncology portfolio, giving OBD significant access to the large Romanian health care market. It is also OBD's first European launch, making Romanian patients the first in the EU to adopt OBD's EpiSwitch clinical tests.
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