NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Biocartis announced today it has signed a commercialization agreement with Nichirei Bioscience, a supplier of biological and diagnostics products in Japan.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Nichirei will seek regulatory approval of the Belgian firm's Idylla MDx oncology tests with the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. Once the tests are registered, Nichirei will distribute the Idylla platform — a fully-automated, real-time PCR-based diagnostics testing system — across its network of approximately 2,000 pathology laboratories in Japan.
The deal should enable local pathology labs there to generate accurate oncology MDx test results with efficient turnaround time and the high quality and clinical utility needed for making cancer treatment decisions, according to a statement.
Masato Takenaga, Nichirei's president, said the company believes that the Idylla system will be an important catalyst in growing the firm's extensive network of pathology laboratory customers in Japan.
"Nichirei Bioscience is a trusted supplier of the Japanese pathology market with a well-established commercial network and extensive experience in the registration of pathology products," added Herman Verrelst, CEO of Biocartis, who noted that a growing cancer incidence in Japan is driving a need for rapid and easy automated MDx solutions to capture a growing volume of tests.