NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Luminex announced today it has licensed the Xtreme Chain Reaction nucleic acid amplification technology from XCR Diagnostics.
The XCR technology enables rapid thermal cycling protocols in order to reduce assay turnaround times compared to traditional PCR.
"We look forward to leveraging the benefits that the XCR technology can bring to our future molecular diagnostics portfolio," Luminex President and CEO Homi Shamir said in a statement.
Financial terms for the non-exclusive, worldwide licensing agreement were not disclosed.
XCR Diagnostics is start-up firm also developing a portable nucleic acid testing system, called pNATS, that aims to provide negative test results in less than 10 minutes and positive results in as little as seven minutes. Its subsidiary company, Fluoresentric, develops products for the food safety, veterinary, and research markets.
"We are excited about the confidence Luminex has in using our XCR technology," said XCR Diagnostics CEO Mark Powelson noted, adding, "This partnership will expose more healthcare professionals to the benefits of using our proprietary XCR technology."
Earlier this month Luminex agreed to acquire MilliporeSigma's flow cytometry portfolio for $75 million. The firm's Verigene gram-positive blood culture panel was also the subject of a recently-published five-year study which showed it could reduce the time to identify pathogens and antimicrobial resistance in sepsis, and consequently reduce patient length of stay and hospital costs.