Genedrive signs distribution agreement with Sysmex
Genedrive
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16:50 25/04/24
Near-patient molecular diagnostics company Genedrive announced on Monday that it has signed a distribution agreement with Sysmex Europe, a subsidiary of Sysmex Corporation, for the Genedrive HCV ID Kit and Genedrive platform in the Europe-Middle East-Africa region, with an initial focus on Africa.
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The AIM-traded company said it and Sysmex Europe anticipated commercialisation beginning in the coming months, targeting end users in decentralised laboratories in multiple countries in Africa, with the rest of the EMEA region to follow.
It said that, with the advent of new 'curative' direct acting antiviral treatments for Hepatitis C (HCV), the two companies believed that there was a “major opportunity” to support tackling the global burden of the disease if accurate, decentralised diagnostics could be used to identify those living with HCV and give them access to therapy.
Genedrive said its HCV test was the first-to-market as a decentralised qualitative molecular HCV test for use at the point of need.
The agreement followed the recent CE-IVD certification from the EU for Genedrive HCV ID Kit, a qualitative molecular assay for HCV.
Genedrive said it would retain responsibility for product development, quality management, and manufacturing while Sysmex Europe will be responsible for sales, marketing, customer support and distribution activities across the EMEA region.
Working together, the companies said they would now focus on securing the required regulatory approvals in individual territories of Africa, and Genedrive anticipated commercial traction during the 2017/2018 financial year.
“We are very pleased to have Sysmex as our first commercial partner for our HCV test, and our agreement represents an important step to provide access to Genedrive across target countries in the African regions," said David Budd, CEO of Genedrive.
“Sysmex is a highly respected global organisation with the experience and networks needed to market and commercialise our products.”
Matthias Voelkel, senior executive officer of Sysmex Europe, said that with the agreement, Sysmex was further expanding its portfolio of products to meet “important” diagnostic needs in Africa.
“In line with our company's mission of 'shaping the advancement of healthcare', we as a company are committed to address the specific challenges of this region.
“We expect that providing healthcare professionals with a quick diagnostic result in a decentralised setting will allow them to further improve the management of Hepatitis C infections.”