Immuron Commences NASH Companion Diagnostic Collaboration with OWL Metabolomics

Immuron Limited and One Way Liver S.L. (OWL Metabolomics), a leader in the field of metabolomics and liver diseases diagnostics, have signed a collaboration agreement to evaluate and validate the efficacy of non-invasive markers for the development of a NASH companion diagnostic to IMM-124E.

Samples collected from the 120 patients to be enrolled during the Immuron NASH Phase II trial will be tested to assess the performance of the OWLiver test and some would be subjected to full metabolomics analysis. Should results be promising, the companies will then proceed to work on a companion diagnostic.

Terms of the agreement will remain confidential.

OWL Metabolomics’s CEO Dr Pablo Ortiz said:

“OWL Metabolomics and our team of liver research professionals are extremely excited to be involved in such an important partnership with Immuron. Newly-developed drugs are becoming more targeted for many diseases, while regulatory authorities increasingly seek more specific technologies in evaluating early-stage drug candidates and determining the most appropriate patient selection for a given drug. We fully anticipate that our novel testing will serve as a robust surrogate marker for specific histopathological changes in the liver.”

Immuron CEO Mr Thomas Liquard continued by saying:

“We are very excited by the great potential of this collaboration, “The only accepted diagnostic tool for NASH today is a liver biopsy, which is arguably not applicable in the clinical setting as a monitoring tool. We look forward to create a validated biomarker and companion diagnostic to improve clinical care for NASH patients when treated with Immuron's compound.”

About OWL Metabolomics

OWL Metabolomics is a biotechnology company committed to the identification, validation and global commercialization of diagnostic assays for the liver and other prevalent human diseases, including the identification of potential therapeutic targets involved in the development of such diseases. Since its inception in 2002, OWL has pioneered novel diagnostic research within the fatty liver space.

The ‘OWLiver’ and ‘OWLiver Care’ assays are the world's first metabolomics-based in-vitro tests for diagnosing NASH and hepatic steatosis (NAFLD), respectively, using micro-blood samples (<0.5 ml) versus today's diagnostic gold-standard which mandates an invasive liver biopsy.

OWL Metabolomics is a privately-held company based in Derio, Spain and collaborates globally with hospitals, liver research centers, biotechnology groups and the pharmaceutical industry.

More information - http://www.owlmetabolomics.com/liver-disease-diagnosis.aspx

About Immuron

Immuron Ltd is a publicly-listed Australian biopharmaceutical company (ASX: IMC) (OTCQB: IMROY) focused on oral immunotherapy using dairy-derived polyclonal antibody products for humans. Immuron is a uniquely positioned biotechnology company in view of its versatile technology platform, comprising dairy derived polyclonal antibodies, capable of generating a wide range of products with a high safety profile. This high safety profile makes it possible to complete pre-clinical studies relatively quickly and raises the prospect that the clinical development of Immuron’s products will be expedited. For more information visit: www.immuron.com/

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