NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Oncgnostics, a Jena, Germany-based molecular diagnostic company, has out-licensed its GynTect cervical cancer test to Changchun Jienuo Medical Technology (CJMT), a subsidiary of Sinopharm Group in China.
The exclusive license was signed last week and covers marketing of GynTect in China, Hong Kong, and Macao. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the contract includes four milestones, one of which is the approval of GynTect by the Chinese Food and Drug Agency within the next three years. Oncgnostics will receive upfront and milestone payments, as well as royalties on future revenues, according to a statement.
"China has a very high demand for screening and triage tests," said Xiaokai Xia, director of CJMT, in a statement. "GynTect will help us to diagnose cervical cancer and its precancerous stages reliably, in order to prevent unnecessary surgeries and to detect malignant tissue alterations early."
The GynTect test is a CE-IVD-marked assay that uses methylation-specific PCR to detect DNA methylation in six marker genes: DLX1, ITGA4, RXFP3, SOX17, ZNF671, and ASTN1. The test can be performed on residual material from a cervical smear taken for liquid-based cytology.
CJMT, a subsidiary of the China National Biotech Group, specializes in clinical diagnostics and belongs to the governmentally held Sinopharm group, which, with more than 100,000 employees and more than $40 billion in annual revenues, is one of the largest global pharma companies.