Philips sold its cutting-edge automated molecular diagnostic business to the Swiss molecular diagnostics company Biocartis, it announced February 10. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The technology involves advanced molecular diagnostic tests that screen for particles of DNA and RNA associated with cancer or other diseases. The hope is that one day this technology could lead to more effective medicine where drugs are chosen to combat the specific strain of bacteria or cancer afflicting the patient.

The intellectual property is being chaperoned by several Philips employees who worked on the project, who are also moving to Biocartis to continue supporting the research. To develop the technology into a commercial product, Philips will provide contract research and development and Biocartis has opened an Eindhoven, Netherlands-based subsidiary, Biocartis BV.

FOCUSING ON POINT OF CARE

The Philips molecular diagnosis platform dates to the early 2000s, according to Steve Klink, a spokesman for Philips' research division.

While similar equipment already exists, it's large and requires specialized staff to operate, so it is limited to a few advanced research hospitals. Philips had hoped to make such testing equipment smaller, cheaper and easier to use, Klink notes.

But Klink says Philips decided to sell the molecular diagnostic technology once it became apparent it would be used initially in central clinical laboratories and was still some distance away from near-patient applications, Philips' specialty.

"We made a strategic decision that we wouldn't directly enter that [centralized laboratory] market," says Klink. "We do not have a position there."

Instead, Philips is concentrating its resources on creating point-of-care tests that can help doctors quickly diagnose patients in, for instance, the emergency room. In January, Philips inked a deal with Marcy l'Etoile-based bioMerieux to make such devices.

Klink says the first products will read biomarkers for cardiac disease and will be used for "acute settings" at the hospital.

"The ambition is to have such a test that can detect [the biomarkers] in five minutes," Klink says.

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