Euro-demand for Corbett range

Australian-based research instrument specialist Corbett Research has sealed a hardware deal with prime Swedish genetic analysis company Pyrosequencing.

Pyrosequencing is to distribute Corbett's range of genetic analysis and robotic equipment in Sweden, Germany, France and Norway.

Commenting on the deal to market Corbett's products, managing director John Corbett said it was a definite sign of approval from the Swedish company, widely acknowledged as a market leader in its field.

"This tie-up will definitely help us with sales. They will be selling our products both as part of a package alongside theirs, and as stand-alone products. We are confident they will exceed our current sales figures for the whole product line once it is sold into the four countries," he said.

Pyrosequencing is to expand its handling of the Corbett range following its successful venture into the US market with the Australian technology, said Erik Walldén, president and CEO of Pyrosequencing.

"Although it is very early in our experience with Corbett products, our initial outreach to customers in the United States has proved to be very reassuring," he said.

Walldén said his company had already seen signs that the combined Australian/Swedish sales and service synergy was beginning to pay off, and commented that Pyrosequencing would look for further opportunities to expand its offering of Corbett tools.

"We are very keen to develop joint products with Pyrosequencing. We can easily modify our product lines to suit their requirements, and expect to announce a joint product along these lines early next year.

"It will most likely be a sample preparation system using our robotics," he added.

Corbett added the agreement would not only enable his company far greater market reach, but would ultimately contribute to the advancement of applied genomics research.

"We are happy to be expanding our relationship with Pyrosequencing to include other locations. They are a one-product company and their sales people are very focussed on that; it makes our products the perfect complement to theirs while they are waiting for customer approvals," he said.

"Joining with Pyrosequencing in Europe will give us a whole new perspective on that market, and work beneficially for both of us," he added.

Corbett said his company was looking at similar links with other analytic companies, to offer bundled 'all-in-one' solutions.

"We are currently in talks with some overseas companies in the reagent business. We don't have a strong reagent product right now, and it would make sense to go for an [equipment bundle] agreement with one of them too," he said.

Corbett is not the only Australian company that has had recent dealings with Pyrosequencing. In March, the Swedish company announced that it had signed a deal with Melbourne-based Genetic Technologies to receive a license to that firm's non-coding DNA analysis and mapping patents.