BioMerieux enters strategic partnership with Knome, including equity stake; posts strong sales growth

France's bioMerieux and USA-based Knome have entered into a strategic agreement to collaborate in the development of next-generation, sequence-based in vitro diagnostics. Under the agreement, bioMerieux will have exclusive rights to license Knome's proprietary genome analysis platform for use in the in vitro diagnostics market.

As part of the deal, financial terms of which were not revealed, Knome will gain access to BioMerieux's intellectual property in DNA extraction and sample preparation. BioMerieux has also purchased a $5 million equity stake in Knome, equal to around 10%, and has the right to designate one director for election to the Knome board.

Founded by Harvard geneticist George Church and led by internationally recognized scientists, clinicians, and bioinformaticians, Knome provides cutting-edge genome sequencing and analysis services for biomedical researchers and families seeking to understand the genetic underpinnings of human disease. "Genome sequencing and analysis is driving a revolution in the diagnosis and treatment of human disease," said Jorge Conde, chief executive of Knome.