NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Molecular diagnostics company IncellDx today announced a deal with Chinese esoteric reference laboratory Kindstar Global to offer IncellDx's test for detecting oncogenic human papillomavirus PV E6, E7 messenger RNA in China.
IncellDx's test quantifies specific biomarkers associated with an increased risk of progression to cervical cancer. It measures the potential oncogenic activity of HPV in infected cervical cells, detecting and quantifying the expression of viral oncogenes that are responsible for triggering progression to cervical cancer, the Menlo Park, Calif.-based firm said.
Kindstar will be the first reference lab in China to offer the test.
"The high level of specificity our technology produces has a significant, positive economic impact on healthcare delivery costs by potentially reducing the number of unnecessary colposcopy/biopsies," IncellDx Founder and CEO Bruce Patterson said in a statement.
Financial and other terms of the deal were not disclosed.
It is the third deal inked by Kindstar in recent months bringing new tests to the Chinese market. In April, it announced an agreement with TessArae to develop genetic tests for the Chinese population. The same month, it also signed a strategic collaboration to introduce molecular assays based on Illumina's products in Kindstar's labs.
In March, Kindstar said it would begin offering Pathwork Diagnostics' Pathwork Tissue of Origin Test in China. A month later, though, Pathwork went out of business, as Pharmacogenomics Reporter reported.