Aerocrine AB,a medical technology company focused on the improved management and care of patients with inflammatory airway diseases, and European biopharmaceutical company, Stallergenes SA have signed an exclusive multi-year distribution agreement for Aerocrine’s airway inflammation monitor and test kit.

The agreement, will comes into effect from September 1, 2012, gives Stallergenes exclusive rights for the marketing, sales and distribution of Aerocrine’s instrument NIOX MINO and test kits, used for diagnosing and monitoring patients with asthma. The terms of the agreement are undisclosed.

The agreement will initially cover France, Italy, Poland, Turkey and the Middle East and could be extended to additional countries. The existing distribution agreement of Aerocrine with ThermoFisher/Phadia which covers France and Italy will be terminated on the effective date of this new agreement.

Aerocrine offers versatile and easy-to-use exhaled Nitric Oxide (NO) monitoring devices for research and clinical applications. Aerocrine’s compact hand-held device is intended for routine measurements, where it can be used to improve the management of asthma and other inflammatory airway conditions in both specialist and primary care clinics. NIOX MINO offers added advantages for patient care including detecting of eosinophilic airway inflammation, determining the likelihood of corticosteroid responsiveness, monitoring of airway inflammation to determine the potential need for corticosteroid, and unmasking of otherwise unsuspected non adherence to corticosteroid therapy.

Aerocrine’s products are already approved for commercialisation. Stallergenes will provide adequate resources to market the products, depending on a country basis scenario.

“Stallergenes has a strong product portfolio and well-established local sales forces with a good network of relationships in the clinical world”, says Scott Myers, CEO of Aerocrine.

With Stallergenes as distributor, Aerocrine gains access to one of the larger providers of both diagnostic and therapeutic products and will benefit from Stallergenes excellent network in the specialist segment.

Scott Myers continues, “We believe Stallergenes is a good partner for us. They know the market well and have the resources that we need and could not fund at this time. The terms of the agreement offer financial benefits to both companies once executed.”

“We are delighted to team up with Aerocrine, the established leader in the measurement and monitoring of airway inflammation. This partnership will reinforce our expertise and offer allergologists and pulmonologists an important tool for a tailored treatment of asthmatic patients. This project not only enables us to enlarge our product offering, specifically designed for allergic and asthmatic patients, but is also perfectly in line with Stallergenes’ strategy in asthma development,” says Roberto Gradnik, Chief Executive Officer of Stallergenes.