Bosch has agreed on a strategic partnership with Randox Laboratories, a leading diagnostic and medical technology company, with the goal of making fast and highly precise diagnostics accessible at the point of care.
The two companies will invest around 150 million euros in joint research, development, and sales activities for new tests for the Vivalytic analysis platform provided by Bosch Healthcare.
One goal is the development of a sepsis IVD grade test that will be the first to feature innovative BioMEMS technology. The latter enables fully automatic testing of up to 250 genetic characteristics (e.g. pathogens) in one cartridge, in less than 15 minutes.
Point-of-care molecular diagnostics is expected to become a future market worth billions and, with its Vivalytic analysis platform, Bosch aims to achieve a leading position in this market.
“With cutting-edge technology from our own labs and our own production lines, we want to grow long-term together with partners in the field of precision diagnostics,” said Stefan Hartung, chairman of the Bosch board of management.
“Here, our medical technology can draw considerable benefit from our diversification, from our expertise, from the groundwork we have done in automation, miniaturisation, molecular diagnostics, and from our experience in microchip development and manufacturing,” Hartung added. “We are investing long-term in an exciting high-tech growth field and continuously developing it together with partners. With technology ‘Invented for life’, we can relieve the burden on medical professionals and help make the diagnose and treatment of disease faster.”
Bosch Healthcare Solutions and Randox are now joining forces in an attempt to accelerate the development and market launch of new tests and to make distribution channels more efficient. The partnership is set to run for more than ten years. With Vivalytic, the two companies aim to achieve sales in the medium nine-figure range by 2030.
“Globally, healthcare is moving toward decentralised and personalised diagnostics, that enable rapid interventions and individual treatment plans,” said Marc Meier, managing director of Bosch Healthcare Solutions GmbH. “With our partner Randox, we want to further expand the test portfolio of our Vivalytic analysis device. Our fully automated molecular-diagnostic PCR tests provide clarity directly at the site of sample collection, shorten waiting times, and take the strain off the healthcare system,” Meier added.
The two partners are a good fit: Bosch can contribute its technology and manufacturing expertise across the fields of molecular diagnostics, microchip development and manufacturing, and miniaturisation. The universal Vivalytic platform for molecular diagnostics was developed in over ten years by Bosch researchers and brought to market maturity by Bosch Healthcare Solutions.
Randox has 40 years of experience in the design and development of highly sensitive IVD tests performed on a variety of technologies, including microfluidic platforms. In combination with the company’s extensive market knowledge and global sales and distribution network, this adds up to considerable opportunities for growth.
Bosch Healthcare Solutions and Randox already collaborated during the COVID-19 pandemic. In spring 2020, Bosch launched one of the world’s first fully automated PCR tests for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Together with Randox, the rapid test for use in doctor’s offices, nursing homes, testing stations, and hospitals was made ready for the Vivalytic analysis device within the space of just a few weeks.
