Biotech group breaks into Japanese market with partnership deal

Manchester biotech group Yourgene Health has struck a five-year strategic partnership with a blue chip Japanese multinational worth around £2m over its contract life.

The deal is to provide Yourgene’s FlexTM Analysis Software bioinformatics platform for a reproductive health project.

Yourgene and the Japanese partner have entered into a technology transfer agreement which provides the partner with access to Yourgene’s bioinformatics platform, the FlexTM Analysis Software, and other associated knowhow.

This will enable the partner to offer in-house bioinformatic analysis and clinical screening services to the Japanese market for a reproductive health application.

Yourgene launched its FlexTM Analysis Software, a medical grade, configurable bioinformatics software platform, in October 2019, to support its ambition to develop strategic in vitro diagnostic (IVD) product development partnerships and research collaborations with key industry players.

The Flex Software allows the complex sequencing data, generated during lab workflow, to be analysed to produce a user-friendly, easy to interpret report for clinicians, without the need for the geneticist or a bioinformation.

The partner will also take a licence for the Atlas Workflow Manager, which ensures a seamless sample tracking workflow that will link to the Flex Software.

Yourgene chief executive, Lyn Rees, said: “We are delighted to have secured this key strategic partnership expanding and consolidating our geographical reach into Japan.

“This is a great endorsement of our analytical capabilities, and we are pleased to be able to customise these class-leading technology tools: Flex Software and Atlas Workflow Manager for our partner.

“We hope to develop future collaborations with this blue chip partner further across reproductive health and other fields.”