NEW YORK – German molecular diagnostics firm Mainz Biomed said on Tuesday that it has signed a collaborative agreement with Thermo Fisher Scientific, through its subsidiary Life Technologies, to develop and potentially commercialize a new colorectal cancer screening test.
Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
Under the partnership, Mainz Biomed will harness Thermo Fisher’s technologies, instrumentation, and information translation systems to develop proprietary assays for mRNA-based colorectal cancer screening.
Based in Mainz, Germany, the firm offers a stool-based colorectal cancer screening PCR test, ColoAlert, that enables early detection and also focuses on precancerous lesions, particularly advanced adenomas.
"This collaboration with Thermo Fisher will be instrumental to our goal to bring to market a home collection colorectal screening tool with highly effective detection of adenomas," Mainz Biomed CEO Guido Baechler said in a statement. "Our product development will be greatly enhanced by Thermo Fisher’s knowledge and scalable, class-leading technologies, providing both partners with a means to accelerate the availability of an innovative new test for colorectal cancer screening around the world."