NextGen Sciences Completes Biomarker Business Refocus

ANN ARBOR, Michigan, and LONDON, March 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- NextGen Group plc (AIM:NGG) is pleased to announce that its subsidiary NextGen Sciences Inc, a leader in biomarker discovery, measurement and qualification, has completed a commercial reorganization. The restructuring, which is accompanied by new management appointments, is expected to help the company execute its strategy of becoming a leading player in the growing oncology and central nervous system (CNS) biomarker markets. Targeting these therapeutic areas, two new biomarker assay products are expected to be launched in the first half of this year.

Key appointments include Dr Neal Siegel as Director of Assay Development, a new position. He joins from Sword Diagnostics Inc and prior to that the US healthcare company Abbott Laboratories, and will lead assay delivery, validation and quality control. Glenn Barney, formerly of US company Decision Biomarkers, becomes Vice-President of Business Development, and will be responsible for driving sales growth across all products, as well as overseeing marketing. Hiroshi Saito joins from Optiem LLC, an internet and digital marketing agency, as Director of Marketing, working closely with Glenn Barney.

Growth of the biomarker market is being driven by a variety of factors, including increased recognition of their utility in clinical trials for patient stratification and understanding of pharmacodynamics (the effect and mechanism of action of a drug in the body).

Klaus Rosenau, Chairman and CEO of NextGen Group, commented: "NextGen Sciences' reorganization brings an increased commercial focus to our biomarker business, with the new appointees bringing extensive technical and commercial expertise. The next step is expected to be the launch of a human plasma assay targeting several oncology disease areas, and a human cerebrospinal fluid assay for CNS disorders, in the first half of this year. This will help us generate value in this growing market via our quality products and services, and increased partnering with pharmaceutical, biotechnology and diagnostics companies. We believe that our increasing profile will be beneficial to our long-term aim of bringing complementary technologies into the NextGen Group".

Notes to Editors

NextGen Sciences Inc (Ann Arbor, MI, USA) is the subsidiary of NextGen Group PLC, London, UK (AIM: NGG). It provides pharmaceutical, biotechnology and diagnostic companies with rapid and quantitative protein biomarker discovery, measurement and qualification services using mass spectrometry technology. With a rise in the industry focus on personalised medicine and cost-effectiveness, biomarkers are playing an increasing important role in drug discovery, development and patient access, as well as healthcare delivery. The global market for biomarkers is expected to grow to $12.8bn by 2012 (BCC Research), with those for neurological disorders ($3.5bn by 2015, Espicom Healthcare) and oncology ($9.5bn by 2014, www.marketsandmarkets.com) playing an important role. NextGen Sciences' products include discoveryexpress for discovery of new biomarkers and targets, assayexpress for assay development and testingexpress for biomarker qualification. For more information visit http://www.nextgensciences.com

    
    For more information please contact :

    NextGen Group
    Klaus Rosenau, Chairman and CEO
    klaus.rosenau@nextgensciences.com
    +49-160-551-6756

    Seymour Pierce
    Jonathan Wright, Nicola Marrin
    +44(0)20-7107-8000