BD will use Exiqon's locked nucleic acids (LNA™) technology in infectious disease diagnostics. The company will market a number of defined LNA-enhanced products to run on the BD MAX™ System, a platform for molecular diagnostics based on real-time PCR.
In return, Exiqon will receive up-front and milestone payments as well as royalties on global sales of the products covered by this agreement.
LNA reportedly provides unique characteristics to molecular assays and offers enhancements for developing advanced products, the firms report. Exiqon says that this agreement marks the first time LNA will be applied in the development of FDA-cleared diagnostic products.