NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Warnex has licensed from German molecular diagnostics firm Epigenomics non-exclusive rights to the Septin9 biomarker, the firms said in a joint announcement today.
Laval, Quebec-based Warnex intends to create a laboratory-developed test for colorectal cancer incorporating the Septin9 biomarker. It plans to launch a testing service within the next few months, and it expects to be the first provider in Canada of Septin9 testing — with a "time-limited head start period of exclusivity for the Canadian market."
Epigenomics will receive undisclosed royalty payments from Warnex. The firms did not disclose further terms of the agreement.
"This agreement is an important further step in the international rollout of Septin9 testing, which is already commercially available in the US and Europe," Geert Nygaard, CEO of Epigenomics, said in a statement.
Berlin-based Epigenomics sells the CE-marked test Epi proColon, which it said is the world's first regulatory cleared molecular diagnostic test for the detection of colorectal cancer in blood that is based on the Septin9 biomarker.