Diaxonhit Enters into Exclusive Partnership Agreement with Japanese Tosoh Group for Marketing Immunoassay Instruments

Regulatory News :

Diaxonhit (Paris:ALEHT) strengthens its offering in the field of immunoassays for clinical laboratories with the signing by InGen, its commercialization affiliate, of a partnership agreement with the Japanese group Tosoh Europe NV for the marketing of immunoassay instruments in France and its overseas territories.

Diaxonhit is already active in the field of immunoassays, which represented approximately 12% of its sales as at June 30, 2013. With this agreement, the Group will be able to offer to clinical laboratories two high-performance automated systems manufactured by Tosoh, the AIA360 and AIA900. These high-speed instruments with 36 and 90 tests/hour, respectively, offer a choice of 44 different parameters with a recognized operational reliability. The ability of these devices to facilitate quality accreditation is also a major asset.

In France, with an increased concentration of private clinical laboratories implicated by the ongoing medical biology reform, the market is moving towards implementation of centralized diagnostic test platforms in which the demand for high-performance equipment, in terms of speed, parameters and quality is strong. Diaxonhit’s new offer directly addresses these requirements.

Working closely with Tosoh Bioscience France, Diaxonhit brings to this partnership its expertise in immunoassays with hospital biologists, such as those of the Paris and Marseille Hospitals or the private sector. This agreement allows both companies to provide customized solutions to better meet current trends in medical biology.

Immunoassays

Among the techniques used for in vitro diagnostic testing, immunoassays are based on the biological principles of the immune system to detect and measure specific elements. They use antigen and antibody characteristics, and in particular the ability of the latter to specifically bind to certain molecules.

Immunoanalysis is quite widespread in clinical laboratories. In 2012, immunochemistry accounted for 37% of the total in vitro diagnostic reagents market in France⁽¹⁾. Utilized on automatic analysis systems, these reagents are used to carry out tests in multiple indications such as heart failure (blood level measurements of BNP, Troponin), vitamin deficiency (blood level measurements of vitamin D, B9, B12), pregnancy monitoring (blood level measurements of beta HCG), and many other tests in the field of infectious diseases.

Automated instruments, on which immunoassays are performed, are characterized by their speed (number of tests per hour), the number of different tests that can be performed (number of parameters), and the ability of the equipment to interact with the laboratory quality system.

(1) Source : SIDIV (July 2013)

About Diaxonhit

Diaxonhit (NYSE Alternext, FR0004054427, ALEHT) is a French fully integrated leader in the in-vitro diagnostic field, involved from research to commercialization of specialty diagnostic products.

With many partnerships and a strong presence in hospitals, Diaxonhit has an extensive commercialization network. Through its affiliate, InGen, it commercializes and services, mostly under exclusivity agreements, in-vitro diagnostic kits and advanced equipment. It operates mainly in the fields of transplantation, infectious diseases and autoimmunity, product quality control and rapid tests, including Tetanus Quick Stick ®, a proprietary product. InGen is the leading supplier in France of HLA tests manufactured by Thermo-Fisher/One Lambda, of which it is the largest distributor worldwide.

The group also owns a diversified portfolio of products in development, including both innovative molecular and non-molecular diagnostics, covering three main specialty areas: immuno-infection, Alzheimer's disease and cancer.

Diaxonhit headquarters are located in Paris and its affiliate in the Paris region. The Group is listed on NYSE Alternext in Paris and is part of the NYSE Alternext OSEO innovation index.

For more information, please visit: http://www.diaxonhit.com.

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