Bio-Rad grants Beckman Coulter exclusive distribution rights for access HIV and Hepatitis C assays

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc, a global provider of life science research and clinical diagnostic products and Beckman Coulter Diagnostics, a global leader in the clinical diagnostics industry, today announced that Bio-Rad is extending its agreement with Beckman Coulter and has named the company exclusive global distributor of Bio-Rad’s Access HIV combo assay and the Access hepatitis C virus (HCV) assay in select geographies. (The products are not available in the U.S. or Vietnam).

The 10-year exclusive distribution rights agreement is part of an extension of the manufacturing and supply agreement between the companies for immunodiagnostic testing for blood virus and infectious disease, which began nearly 20 years ago.

John Blackwood, Senior Vice President, Chemistry and Immunoassay Business Unit, Beckman Coulter Diagnostics said:

This partnership with Bio-Rad enables Beckman Coulter Diagnostics to deliver on its commitment to customers by providing a broad immunoassay menu that allows them to optimize laboratory workflow, with the new HIV combo assay and HCV assay running on the Beckman Coulter UniCel DxI and Access systems, we enable physicians to better diagnose and treat patients with blood viruses and infectious diseases

John Hertia, Bio-Rad Executive Vice President, President, Clinical Diagnostics Group commented:

We are pleased to extend our partnership with Beckman Coulter Diagnostics and believe the expertise of our respective organizations will add significant contributions to both HIV and hepatitis C testing laboratories and ultimately patient care, the strengthening of our partnership reflects each organization’s commitment in providing high value testing for these diseases

About Bio-Rad
Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: BIO and BIOb) develops, manufactures, and markets a broad range of innovative products and solutions for the life science research and clinical diagnostic markets. The company is renowned for its commitment to quality and customer service among university and research institutions, hospitals, public health and commercial laboratories, as well as the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and food safety industries. Founded in 1952, Bio-Rad is based in Hercules, California, and serves more than 100,000 research and healthcare industry customers through its global network of operations. The company employs more than 7,600 people worldwide and had revenues exceeding $2.1 billion in 2014. For more information, please visit www.bio-rad.com.

About Beckman Coulter
Beckman Coulter Diagnostics develops clinical diagnostic products that help advance and optimize the clinical laboratory. Beckman Coulter's instruments, systems and tests help streamline processes to enhance efficiency, reduce costs and speed the delivery of results. For nearly 80 years, Beckman Coulter has been a global leader devoted to providing solutions to laboratories of all sizes, offering a broad portfolio of chemistry, immunoassay, hematology, urinalysis, automation and information systems. Beckman Coulter is dedicated to advancing healthcare for every person and moving science, innovation and the lab forward. For more information, visit www.beckmancoulter.com.