Nov 18, 2022
Seegene to supply diagnostic reagents to public
hospitals in Tuscany for five years
Bidding scale increased by six-fold with non-COVID
products accounting for 43% due to the clinical utility of molecular
diagnostics
Positive impact on bidding in other regions and
continuous growth of non-COVID products are expected
Seoul
(November 18, 2022) Seegene Inc. (096530), South Korea’s leading molecular
diagnostics company, has won a €45 million (about KRW 62.7 billion) tender to supply diagnostic reagents
with the regional government of Tuscany, Italy.
The company announced that its local subsidiary in
Italy, Arrow Diagnostics S.r.l., was selected as a supplier in the bid for
diagnostic reagents conducted every five years by the Tuscan government. The
supply scale, which was 10 billion KRW in 2016, has also increased
significantly by more than six-fold. This increase is due to the clinical utility
of molecular diagnostics, which has been recognized in medical facilities, such
as hospitals, during the pandemic.
With the contract, Seegene will not only supply
COVID-19 test kits but also supply diagnostic reagents for the detection of human
papillomavirus infections, sexually transmitted infections, antibiotic
resistance determinants, and mycobacterium tuberculosis to 13 public hospitals
in Tuscany from January 2023. According to the supply agreement in the
contract, COVID-19 test and non-COVID products account for 57% and 43%,
respectively.
Seegene explained that its successes in bidding for
the contract are attributed to Seegene’s multiplex PCR technology and the application
of the diagnostic reagent to its automated PCR system. Also, it is believed
that the company has contributed to Italy’s overcoming of the pandemic by supplying
COVID-19 tests for 7.15 million people to the COVID-19 Emergency Response
Committee under the Italian Ministry of Defense in April 2021.
“I hope that the signing of this contract will have a
positive impact on our chances of winning tenders in other regions in the
future and serve as a driver for the continued sales growth of our non-COVID products”
said Maccheroni Franco, CEO of Arrow Diagnostics S.r.l.