Biofortuna Ltd, a molecular diagnostics company, has extended its exclusive distribution agreement with Abbott, for its SSPGo range of freeze-dried HLA typing kits, to now include France, Spain, Portugal and the Benelux countries.

Under terms of the agreement, first announced in April 2011, Abbott now obtains exclusive rights to distribute the range of SSPGo products, Verdict interpretation software, as well as kit updates and improvements, in all global territories.

Biofortuna’s novel proprietary freeze-drying capabilities, allows PCR diagnostic kits to be stable at ambient temperature for up to 16 months, eliminating the requirement for refrigerators, freezers, and temperature-controlled shipping. Biofortuna is now offering this proprietary manufacturing expertise as a contract service to diagnostic companies.  As all reagents for PCR are freeze-dried, the end user is only required to add patient DNA prior to amplification and detection.  Biofortuna’s freeze-dried kits offer significant cost and time savings to laboratories by reducing labour, consumables and the potential for errors.

Dr Mike Bunce, CSO of Biofortuna said, “We are delighted that Abbott has become a global exclusive distributor of our SSPGo range of kits.  Success of this product in EMEAI and Asia Pacific markets is a clear indication of the growing demand for our proprietary freeze-dried kits and Abbott’s ability to market and support this product.”

Biofortuna Ltd specialises in proprietary freeze-dried HLA diagnostics. Biofortuna has a number of freeze-dried molecular diagnostic products targeted at the transplantation market.