NEW YORK – Euformatics said Wednesday that it is continuing its global expansion by moving into China via a distribution deal with INSVAST. INSVAST, an acronym for its official name of Shanghai Yi Shuo Information Technology, sells bioinformatics products to next-generation sequencing laboratories in China.
The distribution agreement covers Euformatics' entire Omnomics suite of interpretation and validation software for NGS. It gives Shanghai-based INSVAST, which already distributes products from secondary analysis firm Sentieon, a more complete line of genomic interpretation software to sell.
"INSVAST already has a strong network of connections with the NGS bioinformatics sphere in China, and we are sure that they are well placed to bridge the gap between those labs looking for quality NGS bioinformatics tools and what we have to offer," Euformatics CEO Tommi Kaasalainen said in a statement. "The fact that INSVAST is already successfully working with other bioinformatics providers which our products complement means that the value proposition to customers is even stronger."
Eric Lee, cofounder and chief engineer of INSVAST, said that Euformatics allows his firm to round out its NGS bioinformatics product line. "We believe that by combining [Euformatics'] OmnomicsQ … with the analytical power of OmnomicsNGS, we can ensure that laboratories running NGS in China produce impactful results, making a real difference to patient lives and the way we treat diseases," Lee said.
Espoo, Finland-based Euformatics has struck several distribution deals in the last two years.
A month ago, the firm entered into a distribution agreement with A&C Group to offer its products in Bolivia, Peru, and Paraguay. That deal expanded Euformatics' presence in Latin America, which already included Brazil by virtue of a March distribution agreement with Síntese Biotecnologia.
Euformatics moved into Central Asia, the Middle East, and Africa in late 2019 via an agreement with Dubai-based Alliance Global (AGBL Group).
The company has also expressed a desire to sell its products in Southeast Asia. Kaasalainen specifically named Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia as near-term targets but did not rule out other countries.