NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Mobidiag said today that it has launched a joint venture with Autobio Diagnostics, a leading Chinese clinical diagnostics company, to commercialize the Novodiag molecular diagnostics system and infectious disease assays in China. The name of the joint venture is Automobi Molecular Diagnostics.
Located in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province, Automobi's initial activities will include the registration of the Novodiag platform and assays with the National Medical Products Administration, the agency formerly known as the Chinese Food and Drug Administration.
The Novodiag is a fully automated, cartridge-based system that uses real-time PCR and microarray technology to detect infectious diseases and antibiotic resistance, delivering results in approximately one hour.
The joint venture will also establish local facilities in China to manufacture some of the components and disposables for the Novodiag system.
"We have found the ideal partner in Autobio and are confident that together we will be able to bring easy-to-operate, multi-target molecular diagnostics and innovative syndromic diagnostic panels to the growing Chinese market with an affordable price," said Tuomas Tenkanen, CEO of Espoo, Finland-based Mobidiag, in a statement.
The firms announced plans for the joint venture late last year, noting that Mobidiag and Autobio would invest a total of €12.3 million to establish the company, with Autobio investing €8 million for a 65 percent stake and Mobidiag investing €4.3 million for a 35 percent stake. Autobio Diagnostics also made a €10 million equity investment in Mobidiag at that time.
Under the terms of the partnership, Automobi acquired an exclusive license from Mobidiag to commercialize the Novodiag platform and selected a number of human infectious disease assays, including meningitis, respiratory, and gastroenteric infection tests but excluding sepsis tests, for commercialization in China.