NEW YORK – Wren Laboratories announced Thursday that it finalized a distribution agreement with Kindstar Globalgene Technology to distribute Wren's blood-based neuroendocrine tumor NETest throughout China.
NETest is a qPCR assay that measures the expression levels of 51 genes associated with neuroendocrine cancer, according to the company's website. The company then analyzes these expression levels to calculate the probability of a patient having a neuroendocrine tumor or neuroendocrine neoplasia.
Under the five-year agreement, Kindstar Global plans to conduct a pilot study at Peking Union Medical College and use the data in a nationwide educational campaign about the benefits and diagnostic efficacies of the NETest. Longer term, the Beijing-based company intends to conduct a clinical study to seek China National Medical Products Administration approval and expand NETest access throughout Southeast Asia.
NETest provides "a more robust characterization of neuroendocrine tumors than anything else on the market, and we know it will be an asset to researchers, oncologists, and cancer patients in China," Shiang Huang, CEO and chairman of the board of directors of Kindstar Global, said in a statement.
The agreement marks the latest move in Branford, Connecticut-based Wren's global expansion. Last year, the company signed another distribution agreement with Mexico-based KlinicSync.