Third Wave, Shimadzu, Toppan to Develop Point-of-Care Device for Avoiding ADRs

NEW YORK, March 2 (GenomeWeb News) - Third Wave Technologies, Shimadzu, and Toppan Printing plan to co-develop and commercialize a point-of-care device that aims to prevent adverse drug reactions, the companies said today.

The PCR-based device will use Third Wave's Invader chemistry to interrogate patients' cytochrome P450 genes, Shimadzu's AmpDirect reagents for PCR on whole blood, and Toppan's consumable chip platform. It will also use PCR multiplexing technology developed by the Riken Institute and the University of Tokyo, the companies said.

The firms said they plan to sell a version of the instrument for research use only before the end of 2006.

Third Wave has exclusive marketing rights for the instrument in the United States, Canada, and Europe, while Shimadzu and Toppan, which are based in Japan, have exclusive marketing rights for the rest of the world, the companies said.

Third Wave will decide whether to file the device for clearance with the US Food and Drug Administration before selling it in the United States.