Guided Therapeutics, Inc., the maker of a rapid and painless testing platform based on its patented biophotonic technology, today announced it has signed an extension of its distribution agreement with its Russian and Eastern European Sales and Marketing partner, Newmars Group Kft.

The contract extension commits Newmars Group to minimum orders totaling more than $20 million over the next five years, beginning next year in eight Eastern European countries and then in Russia starting in 2020. The contract extension follows a report of fresh results from Dr. Zoltan Hernadi of the University of Debrecen in Hungary that add to the positive LuViva clinical findings reported earlier this year. The new data include LuViva tests on 100 additional referral patients including 27 with cervical cancer or precancer. As in the previous set of data from the Debrecen centre, LuViva detected over 90% of the women with early cervical cancer that required treatment.

"We look forward to working with Newmars Group over the next five years to bring early detection of cervical cancer to more women in Eastern Europe and Russia," said Gene Cartwright, CEO of Guided Therapeutics. "The new clinical results continue a run of excellent reports issued by opinion leaders around the world."

According to the World Health Organization, cervical cancer is ranked as one of the most frequent cancers in women. Central and Eastern Europe have a population of approximately 112 million women above 15 years of age, who are at risk of developing cervical cancer. The current estimates indicate approximately 1,971 per 100,000 new cases diagnosed and 886 per 100,000 deaths annually in Central and Eastern Europe, making the control of this deadly disease a priority for those countries.