Select Vaccines signs hep E deal with Genelabs

Melbourne-based Select Vaccines (ASX:SLT) has signed its first agreement, with Singapore diagnostics company Genelabs Diagnostics, to bring the recently formed company's hepatitis E rapid diagnostic test to market.

The agreement will provide Genelabs, a subsidiary of US-based Genelabs technologies, with an exclusive license for manufacture and distribution of the diagnostic kit in all countries excluding the USA for 12 years. In addition to an upfront fee, Select Vaccines will receive royalties on sales of the product.

The signing of the final licensing contract is dependent on Genelabs completing a detailed technology evaluation of the diagnostic kit in the context of Genelabs' own patented rapid diagnostic cassette technology, said Select managing director Dr Martin Soust. The two companies expect to complete the deal at the end of October and the kit will be ready for market soon after that, he said.

"This licensing deal is the first of a number of deals covering a range of Hepatitis diagnostic kits that we are moving rapidly to commercialise. An agreement with a respected multi-national like Genelabs is a critical first step for our company as it underscores the value of Select Vaccines' technology," said Soust. "In addition, it demonstrates our ability to secure licensing deals with international parties."

Select Vaccines listed on the ASX in July, announcing at the time that diagnostic kits for hepatitis A and E were deal-ready. A rapid diagnostic test for acute hepatitis C infections is also in development.

"When we relisted the company, we focused on doing these deals as quickly as possible," Soust said. "The next step for us is to get the hepatitis A diagnostic done, and we're also aiming to fast-track hepatitis C."

The antibody-based hepatitis E diagnostic is able to diagnose infections within minutes using a finger-prick blood sample, with an accuracy of 98 per cent. Existing tests, according to Soust, are lab-based, take several days and are far more expensive, and he believes there is a considerable market for the technology.

The virus is endemic to the Indian subcontinent, China, the Middle East and South-East Asia, and is commonly acquired from infected water. In countries such as Egypt, 60 per cent of the population is infected by 10 years of age, with a mortality rate of up to 4 per cent.

At press time, Select was trading slightly lower at 75 cents, on a trade of about 180,000 shares.