Craigavon, NI, 31 May 2007 - Almac Diagnostics had a preliminary Investigation Device Exemptoin (pre-IDE) meeting with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to discuss the proposed regulatory pathway for the company's prognostic gene signature for relapse in colorectal cancer (CRC). Senior company officials met with representatives of FDA's Center for Devices and Radiologic Health (CDRH) on April 13, 2007.

Based on the meeting, Almac Diagnostics plans to accelerate the development and clearance of its In Vitro Diagnostic (IVD) utilizing the 510(k) approach to regulatory submission. The company will now finalize the design of the analytical and clinical studies required for US marketing clearance. While there can be no assurance that FDA will ultimately clear the product through the 510(k) premarket notification process, the company has decided to pursue that route of market clearance based on the preliminary discussions with the agency.

The prognostic gene signature was developed entirely from FFPE samples. Designed to help clinicians determine the risk of cancer recurrence in patients diagnosed with stage II CRC, the proposed IDV will be run on a customized microarray. CRC is the second most frequent malignancy in Western societies (1).

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Contact: Claire Eldred
claire.eldred@edelman.com
44-207-344-1342
Edelman Public Relations
31-May-2007