Primagen Holding B.V. have extended their service testing agreement with Gilead Sciences Inc, to measure mitochondrial DNA using the Retina Mitox test in samples of a multi-year, multi-center phase III clinical study of Viread, a recently approved novel therapeutic for the treatment of HIV-1 infection.

Under the terms of the multi-year service testing agreement, Primagen will continue the measurement of mitochondrial DNA in blood cell samples of individuals from study GS-99-903, a clinical study investigating the efficacy and safety of Viread in treatment-naive HIV-infected patients. Primagen has used its proprietary Retina Mitox test to analyze the samples through week 48 in the study; under the extension all samples of later time points will also be analyzed with the Retina Mitox test in Primagen''s Amsterdam service testing facilities.

"We are very pleased that Gilead, a world leader in anti-infective pharmaceuticals, has decided to further expand our current relationship," said Bob van Gemen, CEO of Primagen. "Our research programs have resulted in innovative proprietary tests and the time has come to leverage these assets and expand our commercial outlet. This extension of our collaboration with Gilead proves the power of the Primagen Retina Mitox platform for cost-effective and rapid measurement of mitochondrial DNA in clinical samples."

"Primagen has successfully executed the initial contract and demonstrated excellent results in both our validation of their assay and the subsequent analysis of baseline and week 48 clinical samples," said Dr. Michael Miller, Director of Clinical Virology for Gilead Sciences. "We are pleased to broaden our collaboration with Primagen, and will use their Retina Mitox test as we conduct further studies of Viread."