DIAsource Immunoassays Enters Agreement with ZenTech for RIA Products

DIAsource Immunoassays (Brabant Wallon, Belgium), a BioVendor group company, has entered into a strategic agreement with ZenTech (Angleur, Belgium) under which ZenTech will transfer its portfolio of radioimmunoassays (RIA) products to DIAsource, securing their continued production and sales.

DIAsource ImmunoAssays is a diagnostics company specialized in the development, manufacturing, and sales and distribution of immunoassay tests and open instrumentation solutions for clinical diagnostics. It delivers manual RIA and ELISA kits and open automation solutions to the international markets, and has a portfolio of over 190 ELISA and 140 RIA assays. ZenTech specializes in the development, production and commercialization of solutions for clinical diagnostics of early life stage diseases and newborn screening. It has a broad portfolio of products in prenatal, neonatal and pediatric screening and offers complete and flexible solutions to set up the screening activity.

Both the companies have long standing collaborations for more than 15 years, with DIAsource already successfully managing a part of the commercialization of the ZenTech portfolio. The current transfer of RIA products from ZenTech to DIAsource is in line with their strategies. The portfolio to be transferred includes the complete line of special RIAs with thyroid markers and markers for fertility and salt balance. Effective July 24, 2018, DIAsource Immunoassays has assumed commercial ownership of ZenTech’s RIA product portfolio and will service clients from order to shipment, while ZenTech will remain the manufacturer during the transition period in which the production will be transferred to DIAsource. The transfer of production will be done in close collaboration and in phases to be concluded by September 30, 2019.

“Historically, ZenTech had a background and expertise in radioimmunoassays. However, when ZenTech acquired the Belgian company Gamma in 2011, it got access to new technologies and entered the market of newborn screening and early life stage diseases,” said Jean-Claude Havaux, Chairman of the Board, ZenTech. “Today's acquisition of the RIA products by ZenTech’s commercial partner DIAsource will guarantee RIA customers are offered long-term service and excellence in logistics worldwide. This transaction will give ZenTech the opportunity to focus on new innovative product lines and other technologies such as molecular diagnostics and mass spectrometry.”

“This acquisition is yet another step in our strategy to position DIAsource as a consolidator of manual specialty assays, after previous acquisitions of the Intertech RIA product line in 2012 and Viro-Immun ELISA and IFA product lines in 2017. DIAsource also acquired the RIA client businesses from distribution partners in France and Spain in 2015 and 2016. This fourth acquisition in the RIA space demonstrates our commitment to the long term future servicing and support of our large RIA customer base worldwide,” said Jef Vangenechten, CEO of DIAsource Immunoassays. “We experience that RIA remains important as the gold standard for assays that are not available on automated systems or for parameters that require a higher analytical accuracy, whereby manual assays offer benefits in terms of quality and flexibility versus price. DIAsource now has a unique position by combining the most complete offering of RIA specialty assays on the market with the ability to offer various RIA automation solutions. Furthermore our manual assays also allow customization for life science research and screening,” added Vangenechten.