bioMérieux and Quanterix Enter Partnership in Ultrasensitive and Multiplex Immunoassays

bioMérieux (Marcy l’Etoile, France) and Quanterix (Lexington, MA, USA) have entered into a strategic agreement that gives bioMérieux worldwide exclusive rights to Quanterix’s Simoa technology in clinical laboratories and for industrial applications. Under the agreement, Quanterix will deliver a new instrument and consumables based on its Simoa technology. bioMérieux will develop ultrasensitive and multiplex assays on the platform.

Quanterix will receive upfront and milestone payments, as well as royalties on future sales. bioMérieux will take an additional equity stake, contingent upon milestone achievement. In connection with the equity stake, bioMérieux has the right to designate one director for election to the Quanterix board. No further financial details of the transaction were disclosed.

Ultrasensitive immunoassay technology invented by Quanterix offers assay performance with multiplex capability. Unlike the traditional analog-based methods of detecting proteins or biomarkers in a biological sample, Simoa is based on a digital approach that enables detection of a signal from single molecules of a labelled analyte, and is much more sensitive than conventional analog-based protein detection technologies.

bioMérieux will develop specialized tests for which high sensitivity and/or multiplex is required, with a particular focus on infectious diseases. The menu will include existing tests for which sensitivity needs to be improved and new biomarkers, which are currently difficult or impossible to measure, opening up new applications. The company’s goal is to improve standard of care, by providing earlier detection of diseases and thus enabling clinicians to make treatment decisions more rapidly. Leveraging the sensitivity of Quanterix’s Simoa technology and the multiplex functionality, bioMérieux will create a unique offer of assays combining several clinically relevant tests, for improved patient care.

Quanterix's Simoa platform uses single molecule measurements to access previously undetectable proteins. With this sensitivity and full automation, Simoa offers significant benefits to both research and clinical testing applications

“This agreement marks an important milestone for our immunoassay franchise, strengthening our role as a specialized player with a ground-breaking technology that delivers significant medical value,” said Jean-Luc Belingard, chairman and CEO of bioMérieux. “We have great admiration for Quanterix’s achievement in developing a technology with the sensitivity of molecular diagnostics at a more affordable cost. We are very pleased to make this breakthrough available to a broad number of laboratories.”

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