NEW YORK – Uppsala, Sweden-based infectious disease diagnostics developer Gradientech announced on Wednesday that it has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with AB Scientific, a UK supplier of pathology products, to distribute Gradientech's QuickMIC antimicrobial susceptibility testing system.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The agreement will enable the commercialization of Gradientech's QuickMIC AST system in the UK and Ireland.
"We have been focused on improvements to the sepsis pathway for several years, and by introducing the QuickMIC technology to the UK and Irish market, we enable even faster turnaround times, reduced healthcare costs, and ultimately more saved lives," said Greg Dobson, director at AB Scientific.
The QuickMIC system provides antimicrobial susceptibility testing results in less than two hours using microfluidics technology and gradients of antimicrobials. The system along with a Gram-negative panel is CE marked and is compliant with Europe's new In Vitro Diagnostic Regulation. It is also classified as a breakthrough device by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Gradientech previously reached exclusive distribution agreements for the commercialization of QuickMIC in Austria, Central Eastern Europe, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Finland, the Baltics, and Portugal.
"AB Scientific has an excellent track record having introduced new diagnostic systems from both Genmark Diagnostics and Accelerate Diagnostics to the UK clinical microbiology market, and we are very excited about their trust in Gradientech and QuickMIC," said Peter Karlberg, VP of sales at Gradientech.