NEW YORK – Molecular testing developer ABL Diagnostics said Monday that it has signed an exclusive distribution deal with Tokyo-based Riken Genesis to promote and commercialize its infectious disease tests in Japan. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
ABL Diagnostics' parent company, Advanced Biological Laboratories, recently acquired the rights to a portfolio of PCR tests from Siemens Healthineers' shuttered Fast Track Diagnostics business.
Under the distribution deal with Woippy, France-based ABL Diagnostics, Riken Genesis will offer the UltraGene qPCR assays and syndromic panels made by Advanced Biological Laboratories.
The agreement also covers ABL Diagnostics' DeepChek genotyping PCR assays and analysis software, validated for use with Sanger and next-generation sequencing workflows.
In a statement, Riken Genesis President and CEO Kenji Iwakabe noted that his firm was a former distributor in Japan of the products related to the Fast Track Diagnostics IP acquired by ABL.
"We believe this new partnership with ABL Diagnostics will enable us to continue providing our customers with robust qPCR solutions that have a proven track record in Japan, while also incorporating advanced sequencing-based genotyping technologies for microbiology," Iwakabe said.
ABL Diagnostics' growing portfolio includes HIV diagnostics and drug resistance assays, including a whole-genome sequencing kit, genotyping and drug resistance tests for SARS-CoV-2, tuberculosis, hepatitis B and C, bacterial 16S/18S RNA-based microbiome and taxonomy analyses, as well as molecular tests for other bacterial and viral targets. In addition, the firm offers syndromic qPCR tests and the Nadis electronic medical record (EMR) system that is used in more than 200 hospitals in France for HIV and hepatitis patient management.