France-based bioMérieux has signed a semi-exclusive agreement with Astute Medical to develop a test for the early risk assessment of acute kidney injury (AKI).
Known to be the NephroCheck Test, the test detects the presence of two biomarkers, including Tissue Inhibitor Metalloproteinases-2 (TIMP-2) and Insulin-like Growth Factor-Binding Protein-7 (IGFBP-7).
As part of the deal, Astute Medical will grant a licence to bioMérieux to develop, produce and market the NephroCheck Test for use on its immunoassay system range, Vidas, mini Vidas and Vidas 3.
bioMérieux CEO Alexandre Mérieux said: "The new NephroCheck Test for VIDAS will perfectly complement our high medical value VIDAS assay portfolio.
"Deployment of the NephroCheck Test for the VIDAS platform will benefit from the VIDAS installed base of about 29,000 systems and from our complementary large product offering dedicated to diagnosis of severe bacterial infections, in particular with VIDAS B.R.A.H.M.S. PCT."
Astute analyzed the biomarkers in two company-sponsored, multicenter, observational clinical studies, to validate TIMP-2 and IGFBP-7 as biomarkers for AKI risk assessment.
The NephroCheck Test identified the majority of patients manifesting moderate or severe AKI within 12 hours of assessment, in these trials, noted bioMérieux.
Astute Medical CEO Chris Hibberd said: This agreement aligns with our business strategy of bringing novel biomarkers with high clinical value to market through a variety of testing platforms."