Under the terms of the agreement, Gen-Probe's Lifecodes unit will have co-exclusive rights to sell SeCore SBT products into the transplant market alongside Life Technologies' dedicated HLA salesforce in the United States. Lifecodes will initiate sales of the SeCore HLA SBT line this month. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

"We are excited to work with the Life Technologies team to bring to market testing products that can help improve transplant science," said Shawn Marcell, General Manager of Lifecodes. "With the growing importance of sequencing in transplant diagnostics, the SeCore HLA SBT product line will play a significant role in future growth by rounding out our product portfolio with one of the highest resolution offerings in molecular typing."

"This relationship was established to offer customers greater flexibility and access to high-resolution typing solutions with efficient workflows. SeCore forms the basis for 100% resolution in molecular typing for HLA today," said Todd Laird, General Manager of Life Technologies' transplant diagnostics business.

The distribution agreement follows a supply and collaboration agreement between the companies announced in May 2011.

SeCore HLA SBT kits are Life Technologies' latest line of high-resolution human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing products based on sequence-based typing. SeCore HLA SBT kits are designed for ease of use and yield high-quality results, the company says.  

These products are available for research use only. They are not cleared for diagnostic use.