03.10.07
Lab21 completes partnership deal with Monogram Biosciences to enable launch of HIV Trofile™ assay in UK

Cambridge, 3 October 2007 Lab21, a leading provider of health and environmental diagnostics, is delighted to have secured an exclusive partnership with Monogram Biosciences Inc. to provide access to the HIV Trofile™ assay in the UK. The agreement will see Lab21 provide operations and logistic services for the new assay which is a companion diagnostic used in the patient selection process for Pfizer’s new antiretroviral treatment Celsentri™.

Celsentri™ is the first in its class of new HIV inhibitors and HIV patients should be pre-screened for the “tropism” of their virus prior to initiation of therapy. Monogram’s Trofile™ assay is the only clinically validated way to determine this. Monogram will use Lab21’s state of the art logistics and operations capabilities to ensure that samples are properly collected and rapidly transported to Monogram’s laboratory in South San Francisco where they will be tested. Lab21 will facilitate the reporting of results to the clinic as efficiently as possible, and ensure that Trofile is available for patients across the UK and Ireland.

Dr Berwyn Clarke, CSO of Lab21, said: “We are delighted to complete this partnership with Monogram because they are one of the market leaders in HIV clinical diagnostics. We are committed to providing a fully comprehensive service portfolio for HIV patients and the availability of the Trofile™ assay is an important component”.

Dr Jerry Walker, CEO of Lab21, said: “This deal not only shows recognition of the quality of services that Lab21 provides but also reinforces our vision that personalised medicine will become an increasingly important component of clinical practice in the very near future. We have a staff highly experienced in testing for infectious diseases, coupled with highly advanced facilities, and the logistical network to ensure a full testing service can be offered across the UK and Ireland.”

Notes to editors

About Lab21 Ltd
Lab21 is a leading provider of cutting edge diagnostics, supporting drug discovery, healthcare and environmental monitoring. Its customers include healthcare providers, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in addition. The Company supports organisations that need to monitor their impact on the environment.

Lab21 has a rapidly growing portfolio of diagnostics to support early stage drug development, clinical trials and regulatory processes in the pharmaceutical industry. A key function is the support of clinicians and healthcare providers as they treat and monitor patients.

The company’s products include diagnostic tests for cancer, liver disease, respiratory illnesses and infectious diseases such as syphilis through its subsidiary Lab21 Healthcare. Its pharmaceutical support services which focus on anti-viral programmes include lead identification and optimisation of targets, drug resistance profiling, mode of action studies, and drug combination studies as well as clinical trial support.

The Lab21 group includes MTI (Monitoring Technologies International), a company specialising in the development of environmental monitoring instruments, and Lab21 Healthcare, which specialises in the development and production of high-quality immunodiagnostics for infectious diseases.

Website: www.lab-21.com

About Trofile
Lab21 is a leading provider of cutting edge diagnostics, supporting drug discovery, healthcare and environmental monitoring. Its customers include healthcare providers, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in addition. The Company supports organisations that need to monitor their impact on the environment.

About Monogram Biosciences, Inc.
Monogram is advancing individualized medicine by discovering, developing and marketing innovative products to guide and improve treatment of serious infectious diseases and cancer. Monogram’s products are designed to help doctors optimize treatment regimens for their patients that lead to better outcomes and reduced costs. Monogram’s technology is also being used by numerous biopharmaceutical companies to develop new and improved antiviral therapeutics and vaccines as well as targeted cancer therapeutics. More information about the company and its technology can be found on its web site at www.MonogramBio.com.

For Monogram's press release on this partnership please click here to view the PDF

Contacts at Lab21:

Media relations for Lab21:
Northbank Communications
Tony Stephenson, Account Manager
Sue Charles, CEO
Claire Mosley, Account Executive
t: +44 (0) 20 7268 3002
e: lab21@northbankcommunications.com

At Lab21:
Dr Jerry Walker, CEO
t : +44 (0)1223 395450
e: Jerry.Walker@lab-21.com

Dr Berwyn Clarke, CSO
t: +44 (0)1223 395461
e: Berwyn.Clarke@lab-21.com