Genera Biosystems (GBI) today announced that it had signed a major collaboration agreement with one of the world’s leading diagnostic equipment and test manufacturers. The agreement will see Genera and their partner, who for reasons of commercial sensitivity, has asked to remain anonymous for the time being, collaborating on a programme of research and development designed to investigate the integration of the PapType HPV detection and genotyping test with the partner’s instrumentation platform. In addition, the partner will have the opportunity to negotiate global rights to PapType for a period following completion of the work.
“Our principal commercialization strategy for PapType has always been to work through a global partner, and so this is a pivotal milestone” commented Genera Biosystems’ chairman, Mr. Fernando Careri. “Our development partner is a very substantial and highly regarded healthcare company, with global sales and marketing outreach. We see this agreement as a strong endorsement of Genera’s technology, and are very hopeful of a more substantive follow-on agreement being signed in due course.” The objective of the development programme, which follows on from 18 months of discussions between the two companies, is to optimise the PapType test to work on the partner’s instrument platform. The partner will meet all costs of the R&D programme, which is expected to take six to seven months. “A successful outcome will pave the way towards a compelling new approach to cervical cancer screening, which will add value to all the major stakeholders – pathology companies, healthcare payers, doctors, and of course the patients,” said Allen Bollands, Chief Executive Officer of Genera. “There is a very strong technological alignment between the companies, and we’re very hopeful that this agreement will be the start of what will grow to become an enduring and mutually beneficial partnership”.
The current version of PapType was recently approved by the TGA and is also registered in Europe. Genera is working with a range of partners, agencies and customers with a view, not only to the commercialisation of PapType, but also the development of other multiplexed diagnostic tests.
Genera Biosystems Limited (GBI) is a molecular diagnostics company that develops, manufactures and distributes advanced molecular diagnostic tests. Its first product, PapTypeTM, a test which simultaneously detects and genotypes human papillomavirus, is registered in Australia and the European Union.
www.generabiosystems.com
