NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Diatherix Laboratories today announced it has acquired from Qiagen a patent covering technology for rapidly identifying multiple infectious disease organisms.
The acquisition of the patent for the technology called TEM-PCR follows a multiyear licensing agreement between Diatherix and Qiagen. Diatherix said that it and Qiagen are working on distribution and supply agreements to continue their partnership.
Qiagen acquired the TEM-PCR technology when it purchased Genaco Biomedical Products in 2006. TEM-PCR stands for Target Enriched Multiplexed-PCR.
Financial and other terms of today's deal were not disclosed.
Based in Huntsville, Ala., Diatherix is a CLIA-certified clinical laboratory that provides multiplex molecular diagnostic services to help health providers in the detection of infectious diseases. As a result of the TEM-PCR patent purchase, it plans to expand its business model to manufacture and distribute diagnostic testing products to healthcare providers that they can use on site.
Diatherix has started expanding its space at the Hudson Alpha Institute for Biotechnology to accommodate future manufacturing and distribution, it said.
"Putting this diagnostic technology in the hands of providers could reduce the time to diagnosis from 24 hours to as few as six to eight hours, speeding the treatment and healing process for patients and generating savings for providers by reducing patient infection rates, decreasing the amount of time patients need to be kept in isolation, and lowering prescription drug costs," Diatherix CEO Dennis Grimaud said in a statement.