Luminex Corporation and ViroNovative Announce License Agreement for Human Metapneumovirus Rights

Luminex Corporation and ViroNovative BV have announced that the companies have signed a licensing agreement that gives Luminex worldwide rights to use ViroNovative's human metapneumovirus (hMPV) intellectual property in the xTAG Respiratory Viral Panel (RVP).

Under the terms of the agreement, rights to ViroNovative's hMPV intellectual property will be extended to Luminex's distributors and end-user customers around the world.

"We are pleased to announce this license agreement in place with ViroNovative for human metapneumovirus," said Jeremy Bridge-Cook, vice president of Luminex Molecular Diagnostics.

"This virus is of increasing concern to healthcare providers worldwide. Having this license as part of our xTAG RVP assay is important to us as it allows our customers to use this cutting-edge test without the need to individually secure rights to this intellectual property."

Luminex's xTAG RVP received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on January 3, 2008. The test was cleared for the detection and identification of 12 viruses and viral subtypes that are together responsible for more than 85 percent of respiratory viral infections. xTAG RVP is the first multiplexed nucleic acid test for respiratory viruses cleared for in vitro diagnostic use by the FDA and is the first and only test cleared by FDA for the detection of hMPV.

"The Luminex platform has achieved remarkable market penetration, so we are delighted to have licensed Luminex Molecular Diagnostics rights to hMPV," said James Simon, chief operating officer of ViroNovative BV. "This agreement will help promote diagnosis of hMPV, an important virus that infects the respiratory tract and causes significant clinical impact in humans, especially in young children."