Companies say their initial projects will entail developing new automation systems based on PCR and NGS technologies. [iStock/© Chagin]
Companies say their initial projects will entail developing new automation systems based on PCR and NGS technologies. [iStock/© Chagin]

Hitachi High-Technologies and Qiagen said today they have launched a long-term strategic collaboration to develop molecular testing tools. The value of the collaboration was not disclosed.

The companies said their initial projects will entail developing new automation systems based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies.

The collaboration could be expanded to involve co-commercialization of products in specific geographic markets, Hitachi High-Technologies and Qiagen said, without specifying which markets.

“Developing a co-commercialization collaboration with distribution and customer service in specific geographical regions would be highly accepted by customers of each company,” Yasukuni Koga, head of the medical systems sales and marketing division of Hitachi High-Technologies, said in a statement.

The collaboration is intended to combine Qiagen’s focus on sample technologies, assay technologies, software, and automation solutions with Hitachi High-Technologies’ expertise in industrialized instrument development and manufacturing technologies for life sciences and in vitro diagnostics.

“Combining the NGS-related and other molecular knowhow of Qiagen with the instrumentation expertise of Hitachi High-Technologies will enable us to bring innovative automation solutions to customers all over the world and across the continuum from basic research through to routine molecular diagnostics,” added Thierry Bernard, senior vice president the molecular diagnostics business area at Qiagen and a member of the company’s executive committee.

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