Precision to supply to Antech for US vet diagnostics market entry

A number of veterinary diagnostics companies are struggling to differentiate themselves in the global market. According to Grand View Research Inc., the global vet diagnostics market is estimated to reach $14.6 billion by 2028 – meaning the competition in the market will be fiercer with increasing players. 

Precision Biosensor, a South Korean in vitro diagnostics (IVD) company, has taken a unique path to survive with its clinical chemistry point-of-care testing (POTC) in the US vet diagnostics market. 

Precision will enter the US market with vet clinical chemistry analyzers and expand its business in the human clinical chemistry market, CEO Kim Han-shin told The Korea Economic Daily on Tuesday.

On July 4, the Korean firm signed a contract to supply 118.2 billion won ($90.3 million) worth of its vet clinical chemistry analyzer Exdia PT10V to Antech Diagnostics Inc., a US leading animal diagnostics company.

Clinical chemistry tests identify metabolites such as blood sugar and cholesterol by analyzing the chemical reactions of body fluids. This requires some tens of tubes containing body fluids in medical centers and normally takes seven to 10 days to get the results.   

Precision’s devices reduce the time to seven-10 minutes with only 70 microliters (μl) of serum. Exdia PT10V cartridges melt the serum and dried reagent to check the chemical reaction, thus enabling up to 17 test parameters and fast results including calculated values. Precision is one of a few global firms that own clinical chemistry POCT technologies, Kim said.

Antech is set to enter the animal clinical chemistry market with Precision’s devices. The US major vet diagnostics firm has not yet owned its clinical chemistry analyzers while its competitors, IDEXX, Zoetis Diagnostics and Heska Diagnostic Laboratory own theirs. 

“We will launch Exdia PT10V in North America and start selling cartridges for 11 types including pre-surgical, liver function and comprehensive tests in the second half of 2023. As the contract is under a 15-year term,  we may increase the supplies in the future,” said Kim.

LOOKING PAST EUROPE TO US HUMAN CLINICAL CHEMISTRY MARKET

Precision is aiming to begin a clinical study of Exdia PT10, the clinical chemistry analyzer for humans, in the US later this year and launch the devices by 2024 after earning marketing approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

“We are exporting Exdia PT10 in Europe – it is broadly used in Italy for patients’ self-testing and medicine prescription. The device is useful for caring for chronic diseases such as high blood pressure and hyperlipidemia with a fast and accurate diagnosis,” Kim said. Precision also supplies the devices to public healthcare centers in Korea.

The Korean firm is also expanding its immunodiagnosis analysis business. The company has in-house time-resolved fluorescence (TRF) imaging technology that can detect single-digit picograms of biomarkers. It is exporting the cartridges for myocardial infarction diagnosis to Europe.

Precision is planning to boost its annual sales to 30 billion won this year, nearly double the 15.9 billion won in 2021. “Whether or not in vitro diagnostics firms will have a soft landing in the post-pandemic era will determine their future. We will steadily increase sales based on two core businesses, clinical chemistry and immunodiagnosis,” said Kim.

Write to Sun-A Lee at suna@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edited this article.