NEW YORK – Emerald Organic Products and Todos Medical said Tuesday that they have formed a joint venture, Corona Diagnostics, to provide screening assays and diagnostic tests for COVID-19 in the US.
Financial and other terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Emerald Organic, a diversified health sciences company, will contribute financing, US domestic distribution know-how, international trade relationships, and assistance in navigating the US healthcare and regulatory landscape, the firms said.
Todos will be responsible for securing regulatory approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for a rapid point-of-care kit, Colloidal Gold, that detects antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Last week, Todos said it had inked an exclusive agreement with Gibraltar Brothers & Associates, a US-based subsidiary of China-based Shanghai Liangrun Biomedicine Technology, to distribute Colloidal Gold in the US and Israel.
Further, Corona Diagnostics will leverage an agreement that Todos has inked with 3D Medicines for distribution of its Andis SARS-CoV-2 Detection Kit, Andis SARS-CoV-2 & Influenza A/B Detection Kit, and Andis 350 3DMed Automated Solution countertop real-time PCR machine.
Corona Diagnostics anticipates launching the automated PCR-based test in combination with Colloidal Gold.
By combining its efforts with those of Todos, Emerald Organic is taking aim at helping "relieve bottlenecks" in the PCR testing process by enabling screening of patients with the rapid point-of-care tests, its CEO Ian Parker said in a statement.
New York City-based Emerald will own 51 percent and Rehovot, Israel-based Todos will own 49 percent of the joint venture.