Strategic partnership will focus on commercializing
CELLSEARCH platform for COVID-19 related use cases, along
with other COVID-19 related products
BOLOGNA, Italy
and HUNTINGDON VALLEY, Pennsylvania and GAITHERSBURG, Maryland, July 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Menarini Silicon
Biosystems (MSB), the pioneer of liquid biopsy and rare cell
technologies, announced today that it has entered into a strategic
co-promotion partnership for its CELLSEARCH Circulating Endothelial
Cell (CEC) Kit*, relevant to study progression of COVID-19 disease,
and other COVID-19-related products, with OpGen, Inc. (Nasdaq:
OPGN), a precision medicine company harnessing the power of
molecular diagnostics and bioinformatics to help combat infectious
disease.
Effective immediately, Menarini's CELLSEARCH system, CELLSEARCH
CEC kit and COVID-19 related products will be marketed and sold by
OpGen to infectious disease healthcare providers and researchers in
North America through its
dedicated team of sales and marketing experts.
The partnership will focus on promoting Menarini's CELLSEARCH
system for CEC application, for the enrichment and enumeration of
CEC from whole blood. CEC count is useful in studying the
progression of COVID-19 and potentially in identifying patients at
risk of developing more severe complications.
Both parties intend to expand the portfolio of COVID-19 products
and platforms available over the coming months as they become
available for sale. The OpGen commercial team will offer these
products to its infectious disease contacts in hospitals, labs,
research centers, along with distributors and other relevant
stakeholders in the COVID-19 testing space.
"We are excited to partner with OpGen for the commercialization
of our CELLSEARCH CEC Kit and our expanding portfolio of COVID-19
related products in the U.S. market," said Fabio Piazzalunga,
President and CEO of Menarini Silicon Biosystems, Inc. "This deal
further extends the strategic distribution partnership which
Menarini has built over the past 15 months in eleven European
markets for OpGen's subsidiary Curetis GmbH's Unyvero platform and
forms another element of our strategic presence in the infectious
disease diagnostics market."
"This commercial partnership further adds to the available
portfolio of infectious disease tests that our OpGen sales and
marketing team can bring to our network of customers in the U.S.,"
stated Oliver Schacht, CEO of OpGen.
"With Menarini already being our exclusive strategic distribution
partner in Europe since early
2019, we see this as a natural extension and expansion of our
partnership at a global level."
"While MSB has traditionally focused on oncology molecular
diagnostics we also have built a dedicated team of commercial
experts in the U.S. in the infectious disease diagnostics market.
Our team is excited to add several key products into their offering
to bring a more complete solution to the COVID-19 pandemic
situation," Mr. Schacht added.
About Menarini Silicon Biosystems
Menarini Silicon
Biosystems offers unique rare cell technologies and solutions that
provide clinical researchers with access to unparalleled resolution
in the study of cells and their molecular characterization. The
company's CELLSEARCH and DEPArray technologies together provide an
end-to-end solution** for enumeration and sorting of rare cells
with single-cell precision.
Menarini Silicon Biosystems, based in Bologna, Italy, and Huntingdon Valley, Pa., U.S., is a wholly
owned subsidiary of the Menarini Group, a multinational
pharmaceutical, biotechnology and diagnostics company headquartered
in Florence, Italy, with 17,640
employees in 136 countries.
About OpGen, Inc.
OpGen, Inc. (Gaithersburg, MD, USA) is a precision medicine
company harnessing the power of molecular diagnostics and
bioinformatics to help combat infectious disease. Along with its
subsidiaries, Curetis GmbH and Ares Genetics GmbH, OpGen is
developing and commercializing molecular microbiology solutions
helping to guide clinicians with more rapid and actionable
information about life threatening infections to improve patient
outcomes, and decrease the spread of infections caused by
multidrug-resistant microorganisms, or MDROs. OpGen's product
portfolio includes Unyvero, Acuitas AMR Gene Panel and Acuitas®
Lighthouse, and the ARES Technology Platform including ARESdb,
using NGS technology and AI-powered bioinformatics solutions for
antibiotic response prediction.
For more information, please visit www.opgen.com.
OpGen Forward-Looking Statement
This press release includes statements regarding the Menarini
Silicon Biosystems commercial partnership for COVID-19 related
tests by OpGen. These statements and other statements regarding the
Companies' future plans and goals constitute "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act
of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and
are intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability
established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that
are often difficult to predict, are beyond our control, and which
may cause results to differ materially from expectations. Factors
that could cause our results to differ materially from those
described include, but are not limited to, our ability to
successfully, timely and cost-effectively develop, seek and obtain
regulatory clearance for and commercialize our product and services
offerings, the rate of adoption of our products and services by
hospitals and other healthcare providers, the realization of
expected benefits of our business combination transaction with
Curetis GmbH, the success of our commercialization efforts, the
impact of COVID-19 on the Company's operations, financial results,
and commercialization efforts as well as on capital markets and
general economic conditions, the effect on our business of existing
and new regulatory requirements, and other economic and competitive
factors. For a discussion of the most significant risks and
uncertainties associated with OpGen's business, please review the
Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You
are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements, which are based on our expectations as of the date of
this press release and speak only as of the date of this press
release. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise
any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
* The Circulating Endothelial Cell Kit (CEC) is for Research Use
Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures. The performance
characteristics, safety, and effectiveness have not been
established and are not cleared or approved by the FDA.
**The workflow described is for research use only. Not for use
in diagnostic procedures. The performance characteristics, safety,
and effectiveness of the workflow have not been established and are
not cleared or approved by the FDA.
Contact: Menarini Silicon Biosystems
Liz Dowling, (415) 388-2794
Dowling & Dennis PR
Liz@dowlingdennis.net
OpGen Press Contact
Matthew Bretzius
FischTank PR
matt@fischtankpr.com
OpGen Investor Contact
Joe Green
Edison Group
jgreen@edisongroup.com