Press Release

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Global Health Investment Fund Purchases $8 Million of Convertible Notes Issued by Access Bio, Inc.

Proceeds will finance the purchase and installation of new manufacturing equipment for Access Bio’s rapid diagnostic test products

 

NEW YORK–The Global Health Investment Fund (“GHIF”) is pleased to announce that it has invested $8 million in Access Bio, Inc. (KOSDAQ:950130) (“ABI” or “Access Bio”), a publicly listed company on South Korea’s KOSDAQ exchange. The investment is structured as convertible notes which can be exchanged for an equity interest in the company at GHIF’s discretion after a fixed lock-up period. Investment proceeds will be used to procure and install manufacturing equipment that will further support the affordability of ABI’s rapid diagnostic test products.

Access Bio is an innovative point-of-care diagnostics company with a growing portfolio of products that advance GHIF’s mission of making high-quality, affordable medical technologies accessible in low- and middle-income countries. Anchored by its position as a market-leading provider of rapid diagnostic tests (“RDTs”) for malaria, Access Bio also offers an expanding menu of robust, low-cost tests for public health challenges such as HPV infection, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency, HIV infection, dengue fever and syphilis. In addition to the company’s established product pipeline, Access Bio is also responding to the emerging Zika virus threat through the development of diagnostic products on both RDT and molecular testing platforms.

“Given Access Bio’s commitment to developing and delivering low-cost diagnostic kits for such a wide range of conditions of interest to the Global Health Investment Fund, we are thrilled to be providing financing to support the company’s RDT manufacturing capabilities,” said Glenn Rockman of GHIF. “We believe our support will enable further enhancements to ABI’s RDT assembly process and we look forward to continued collaboration with the company to ensure their entire portfolio of diagnostic kits is widely available at affordable prices.”

Following the World Health Organization’s 2010 recommendation that all suspected cases of malaria receive a diagnostic test prior to treatment, malaria RDTs have become an essential public health commodity, with more than 300 million tests delivered annually over the last three years. The majority of these tests are purchased by international donors and public health systems in malaria-endemic countries, where accurate diagnosis of infection is enabling better patient care and more efficient use of anti-malarial drugs. Diagnostic products such as those manufactured by Access Bio are essential tools in advancing the control and elimination agenda for malaria and other public health challenges.

Mr. Young H. Choi, chief executive officer of Access Bio, remarked that “our financing agreement with Global Health Investment Fund further solidifies our commitment to make high-quality diagnostic products accessible to those most in need. We believe we can make a meaningful impact in the lives of hundreds of millions of patients around the world, while tapping into an enormous and rapidly growing customer base that will benefit as affordable diagnostics play an increasing role in managing the threat posed by infectious diseases.”

About Access Bio, Inc.:

Access Bio (KOSDAQ:950130) is dedicated to the prevention and early diagnosis of infectious diseases through research, development, and manufacturing of in vitro rapid diagnostic tests, biosensors and molecular diagnostic products. The company’s in vitro diagnostic test platform includes immunochemical, biochemical and molecular products.

Headquartered in Somerset, New Jersey, Access Bio serves its global customer base from manufacturing sites located in the US, Ethiopia and South Korea. In fiscal year 2015, the company reported $31.4 million of revenues, largely from sales of its industry-leading malaria RDT products. The company is in the early stages of commercializing a number of additional diagnostic kits that leverage its existing expertise and manufacturing capacity.

For additional information about the company, please visit accessbio.net

About Global Health Investment Fund I, LLC:

GHIF is a private investment fund structured by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The fund received anchor support from Grand Challenges Canada (funded by the Government of Canada), the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (acting through KfW), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation. The fund’s limited partners also include AXA, GlaxoSmithKline, International Finance Corporation, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Merck, Pfizer Foundation, Storebrand and individual investors.

With an emphasis on late-stage projects, GHIF finances the development of drugs, vaccines and diagnostics for diseases that disproportionately burden low-income populations. Much like a traditional investment fund, GHIF searches for opportunities that will deliver compelling financial returns in developed markets and/or emerging markets. Of equal importance, each investment must also advance the fund’s public health mission, which is to ensure that the innovations it supports are accessible to those who need them most in underserved markets. Key global health challenges targeted by the fund include malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, cholera and preventable causes of maternal and infant mortality, in addition to other neglected infectious diseases. GHIF’s definition of success requires meaningful improvements in the lives of those afflicted by these challenges, and the fund forecasts and measures its progress against this objective alongside traditional financial return benchmarks.