BioView Ltd. (TASE:BIOV) is expanding its connections with medical equipment and diagnostics company Abbot Laboratories. BioView, which develops and markets equipment for automating laboratory tests, notified the TASE today that it had signed a cooperation agreement with Abbot for development purposes.
Under the current agreement, Abbot is slated to develop signs using Fish technology, which can identify an excess or lack of certain genes in a cell, and detect whether a certain gene is playing a role in the development of diseases, for research and testing purposes. BioView will develop imaging software for these markers. Each side will bear its own costs - Abbot for developing the sign, and BioView for developing the software. BioView said in its announcement that the products resulting from this joint development would be marketed and distributed by Abbot under the distribution agreement between the two companies.
Under the distribution agreement signed in June 2013, Abbot is the global distributor for the Duet systems being developed by BioView. These systems perform automatic scanning, diagnosis, and control of biological samples. The agreement gives Abbot exclusive worldwide distribution rights to BioView's products, excluding the US and Canada, where exclusivity is not granted. Marketing by Abbot in the US and Canada takes place simultaneously with direct distribution by BioView and its partners.
Connections and acquisitions
BioView CEO Alan Schwebel unveiled the agreement at a conference a year ago, noting that in recent years, connections between diagnostic companies like Abbot and companies developing automation systems for these tests, such as BioView, had become closer. It is now no longer rare to see complete cooperation between such companies, and when these connections become really close, the diagnostic companies also make acquisitions.
BioView trades on the TASE at a NIS 42 million market cap. Its first half revenue totaled NIS 14.8 million, up 36%, compared with the first half of 2013, and the company posted a NIS 828,000 profit, compared with a NIS 1.4 million loss last year.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 19, 2014
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