Malaysian Genomics Resource Centre Berhad (Bursa: MGRC, 0155), a leading genomics and biopharmaceutical specialist, announced today that the Group is acquiring a 51% stake in Aquahealth Sdn Bhd, a kidney dialysis operator, from Rinani Renal Berhad.

Aquahealth is establishing a kidney dialysis centre in Gombak, Selangor, with the license to operate the centre owned by the Malaysia International Islamic Chamber of Commerce. With the acquisition of the stake, Malaysian Genomics, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, MGRC Healthcare Sdn Bhd, will now become the operator of the dialysis centre.

En. Sasha Nordin, Chief Executive Officer of Malaysian Genomics, said, "This will be the first of many centres across the country that will be driven by a personalised kidney care model integrating dialysis with nutrition management, lifestyle changes, and even genetic testing of patients and their immediate family members. This pioneering approach will focus on bringing innovations in service delivery to improve the lives of patients with chronic kidney disease."

"Expanding downstream to healthcare services, through our subsidiary MGRC Healthcare, is an important step in Malaysian Genomics' growth as a diversified specialist healthcare group. The acquisition of the Aquahealth stake is part of our Group's strategy to secure a diverse portfolio of earnings accretive assets across Southeast Asia that will, in turn, leverage and benefit from our genomics and biopharmaceutical knowledge and experience developed over the past 18 years."

According to the Ministry of Health's Management of Chronic Kidney Disease report, the number of Malaysians with kidney disease is projected to increase significantly in the future mainly due to the prevalence of diabetes, hypertension and an aging population[1]. At 13.2% per year, Malaysia has the second highest annual growth rate of chronic kidney disease in the world[2].

Dato' Dr. Suhaini Kadiman, Chairman of Malaysia International Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Director of Clinical Research at Institute Jantung Negara added, "Thousands of kidney patients are on waiting lists for dialysis treatment and new centres are urgently needed. We welcome MGRC Healthcare's interest to collaborate with us to operate the centre in Gombak, and we look forward to the innovations they will contribute to improve the lives of kidney dialysis patients."

Recently, Minister of Health YB Tuan Khairy Jamaluddin noted that there were over 40,000 kidney patients in Malaysia, with over 8,000 new patients diagnosed annually since 2018[3].

[1] https://tinyurl.com/42jexjsk
[2] https://tinyurl.com/2cmkmzkz
[3] https://tinyurl.com/mr3mkfmk

Malaysian Genomics Resource Centre Berhad: 0155 [BURSA: MGRC] [RIC: MGRC:KL] [BBG: MGRC:MK], http://www.mgrc.com.my/

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