8 September 2021

Diaceutics PLC

("Diaceutics" or "the Company")

Two new experts join the Diaceutics Advisory Panel

·   Two further Key Opinion Leaders provide their support for the Company's DXRX platform, the world's first diagnostic commercialisation platform for Precision Medicine

·   Diaceutics' advisory panel of global experts has more than 120 years of collective experience in Precision Medicine testing

·   Panel is working with key stakeholders to unlock the power of Precision Medicine and to help patients get timely access to the treatment they deserve

·    Specialists are part of a growing global network built by Diaceutics to transform the testing ecosystem

Diaceutics PLC (AIM: DXRX), the diagnostic commercialisation company, announces the addition of two new Key Opinion Leaders to its Advisory Panel of experts to support and inform the development of its DXRX platform - the world's first diagnostic commercialisation platform for Precision Medicine. The new additions to the panel are Dr. Avi Kulkarni, Senior Vice President, Global Head of Life Sciences Research & Development at Cognizant, and Agathe Blanchon-Ehrsam, VP Long-Range Innovation and Portfolio Development at Danone.

Dr. Avi Kulkarni has over 20 years' experience in Personalised Medicine and brings a leadership view that integrates four pillars: strategy, operational performance, entrepreneurship and scientific experience and scholarship. Dr Kulkarni previously held management consultancy roles at IQVIA and Booz & Co, before spending a decade in the biotechnology industry around Stanford University helping to build three biotechnology start-ups: CareDx/XDx (CDNA), Lumen Therapeutics, and Aviir.

His focus is on capabilities-led transformation of life sciences companies, and he has extensive experience in drug and diagnostics product development, mergers and acquisitions, and commercialisation processes. He has helped some of the world's leading biotechnology companies develop cell and gene therapies, build precision medicine capabilities, and diversify into new businesses and markets. Dr Kulkarni will advise the Company on its strategy through execution, including the enablement of its DXRX platform, providing advice related to positioning, portfolio prioritisation, product planning and business development, as well as facilitating additional pharma industry introductions.

Agathe Blanchon-Ehrsam, will join the panel as a Strategy Advisor for the DXRX platform. She brings over 20 years of strategic consulting experience. Agathe has helped to build brands and grow organisations with strategic and hands-on experience across a variety of business situations - from vision setting, strategy definition and leadership team facilitation, to complex team management, marketing campaign design and KPI optimisation.

Previously, Blanchon-Ehrsam was a founding board member of Hot Bread Kitchen, a nonprofit organisation which developed incubation programs for start-up food entrepreneurs. Long-term engagements for Casa Cuervo Tequilas, Nestle, and Siemens have further developed her deep international understanding of industry dynamics and consumer behavior.

Dr. Avi Kulkarni, Senior Vice President, Global Head of Life Sciences Research & Development at Cognizant said: "For decades I have built strategies and helped enable Rx and Dx companies in their biomarker-based transformations.  As the world's first diagnostic network for precision medicine, the DXRX platform is already making a significant difference in how data is used and will positively impact how patients are treated. I'm looking forward to helping Diaceutics further develop the DXRX platform and continue the progress made to date."

Agathe Blanchon-Ehrsam, VP Long-Range Innovation and Portfolio Development at Danone said: "Accelerating cancer research and improving patient outcomes is one of the big challenges of our generation. Solving it will require the entire healthcare ecosystem to work together. DXRX is already changing how data is used, how partners collaborate and how patients are treated. I'm excited about the potential for platform business strategy to further unlock connections and enable the move from siloed solutions to more powerful, value-creating, and personalised answers."

Peter Keeling, CEO and Founder of Diaceutics PLC, commented:

"We are delighted to welcome two further experts to our network. As part of our dynamic group of advisors, Avi and Agathe will help to guide our DXRX platform's service offering and enhance the value we deliver to pharma companies, laboratories and diagnostic companies. In turn, this will help to overcome the obstacles currently present in the field of Precision Medicine and, more importantly, greatly benefit patients by getting them access to the right treatment at the right time."

Currently, the panel consists of Keith Kerr from Aberdeen University School of Medicine in Scotland (Professor, Consultant Pathologist), US-based Kenneth J. Bloom of Invicro and Ambry Genetics (CMO, MD, FCAP), Markus Eckstein from University Hospital Erlangen in Germany (MD) and Dr Anthony Magliocco of Protean BioDiagnostics Inc. (Founder and CEO, Consultant Pathologist) in the USA.

To date, the panel has undertaken extensive research into the inefficiencies in precision medicine testing which are preventing patients from getting the treatment they need, when they need it. For example, the Diaceutics study discussing the impact of COVID-19 on cancer diagnosis, which was accepted as an abstract at the prestigious 2021 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, demonstrates from the data that there was a significant decline in patients presenting to their primary care physicians with suspicion of cancer for diagnostic investigation linked to COVID-19 prevention strategies. As a result, it is predicted that these patients may subsequently present with a more advanced cancer. Keith Kerr, Professor of Pulmonary Pathology, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and Advisor at Diaceutics was an author on this abstract.

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About Diaceutics

At Diaceutics we believe that every patient should have access to the right treatment at the right time. We provide the world's leading pharmaceutical companies with an end-to-end solution for the launch of Precision Medicine diagnostics enabled by DXRX - The Diagnostic Network®. 

DXRX is the world's first diagnostic commercialisation platform for Precision Medicine, integrating multiple pipelines of real-world diagnostic testing data from a global network of laboratories.