Seegene and Eidia, the in vitro diagnostics subsidiary of Japanese pharmaceutical firm Eisai, have entered into a collaborative agreement to bring new multiplex molecular diagnostic tests to Japan.
Under the agreement, Eidia gains access to Seegene's portfolio of multiplexed molecular diagnostics tests based on the company's tagging oligonucleotide capture and extension, or TOCE, technology.
More specifically, Seegene will supply a wide range of TOCE-based multiplexed tests which Eidia will exclusively market and distribute in Japan. In addition, Eidia will be responsible for obtaining regulatory clearance for the tests from the Japanese Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Agency.
The TOCE technology enables highly multiplexed assays by separating genes that have been amplified by real-time PCR technology based on differences in their melting temperatures.
Seegene, which has offices in Seoul, South Korea, and Gaithersburg, Md., uses its TOCE technology, as well as its dual-priming oligonucleotide, or DPO, technology, to produce commercial molecular diagnostic kits. It has also recently inked licensing and collaborative agreements for the technologies with multiple entities in the diagnostic space and applied markets such as food safety.