[THE INVESTOR] Korean biotech firm Seegene said May 23 that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world’s No. 1 maker of scientific instruments, to bring its diagnostic assay to the US market.

Under the agreement, Seegene will file for US Food and Drug Administration clearance of its Allplex diagnostic assay portfolio while Thermo Fisher will seek approval to run its assays on the QuantStudio 5 Real-Time polymerase chain reaction System.


 

Seegene founder and CEO Chun Jong-yoon

The US is the world’s largest molecular diagnostics market. Well versed in advanced detection technologies, it also has the strongest customer demand, according to Seegene’s CEO Chun Jong-yoon.

“The synergistic combination of Thermo Fisher’s latest instrument and Seegene’s powerful multiplex PCR chemistry technologies will enable us to gain US market share by offering advanced detection methods to more physicians and patients,” Chun said.

The combination of Thermo Fisher’s PCR System and Seegene’s Allplex assay opens a new level of innovation to the market by enabling a comprehensive molecular diagnostics solution. Coupled with Thermo Fisher’s dominant position in instrumentation, Seegene’s multiplex detection technologies will take a strong foothold in the US market, according to the company.

Seegene is a KOSDAQ-listed firm which plans to develop over 300 reagent products by the end of 2018 with the automation system based on its silico database. It logged revenue of 73.7 billion won (US$65.64 million) and operating profit of 10.1 billion won last year.

Thermo Fisher supplies the biopharmaceutical industry with research, clinical trial and production services, with annual revenue of US$18 billion and more than 55,000 employees globally.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)