ExonHit and bioMerieux Extend Alliance

An agreement to extend their collaboration for the discovery and development of new blood diagnostics for early cancer detection has been announced by bioMerieux (Marcy L'Etoile, France) and ExonHit (Paris, France). The collaboration is to be extended for six years.

The tests to be developed should enable the detection of cancer from a simple blood sample and at a very early stage, before clinical symptoms appear. The companies believe that early detection of cancer is crucial for increasing the chance of successful therapy. Their initial alliance in 2003 was for the development of a diagnostic test for breast cancer but this has now been enlarged to include other types of cancers for which a blood or tissue diagnostic is needed.

The objective of this collaboration is to develop DNA microarrays to detect genetic cancer markers in blood or tumor samples and is based on ExonHit's strong expertise and intellectual property in the field of gene expression combined with bioMerieux's know-how in the field of diagnostics.

Under the terms of the agreement, ExonHit grants bioMerieux an exclusive license to use its technology and methods in the field of blood diagnostics, gene profiling, and the design of microarrays. In exchange, bioMerieux will fund ExonHit's R&D costs for each cancer studied. There is to be a minimum of five research programs. ExonHit will also receive milestone payments for each key milestone reached as well as royalties on future sales.

"What bioMerieux and ExonHit are capable of achieving together is a real breakthrough in the field of cancer diagnostics,” said Bruno Tocque, CEO of ExonHit. "From a single drop of blood, it will be possible to detect the early signs of several types of cancer.”





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