- Strengthens Immucor's Position in Transplantation Diagnostics With Molecular Post-Transplant Monitoring Assays
- Dr. Minnie Sarwal to Join Immucor as Scientific Advisor
NORCROSS, Ga., June 2, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Immucor, Inc., a global leader in transfusion and transplantation diagnostics, today announced that it has acquired Organ-i, Inc., a privately-held company focused on developing non-invasive tests to monitor and predict organ health for transplant recipients.
Mountain View, CA-based Organ-i is led by founder Dr. Minnie Sarwal, MD, FRCP, DCH, Ph.D., who developed Organ-i's first product, the kidney Solid Organ Rejection Test (k-SORT), as well as a pipeline of molecular assays focused on post-transplant rejection monitoring and allograft tolerance. Dr. Sarwal will lend her expertise to Immucor in a scientific advisory role helping to advance the Organ-i pipeline.
"The addition of Organ-i strengthens Immucor's presence in transplantation diagnostics and is a highly complementary fit to our LIFECODES transplant business, which we acquired last year," stated William A. Hawkins, Immucor's president and chief executive officer. "We believe Organ-i's k-SORT assay is an important advancement in transplant medicine to meet the increasing demand for post-transplant monitoring assays that detect graft rejection.
"We are excited about working with Dr. Sarwal to not only commercialize k-SORT but to also build a menu of post-transplant monitoring assays to improve the lives of transplant recipients," stated Mr. Hawkins.
The k-SORT assay is a clinically validated, gene-based biomarker panel that is designed to assist physicians in the diagnosis of acute rejection in kidney transplant recipients. Studies have shown k-SORT has high positive and negative predictive value for detecting acute kidney rejection.
"We founded Organ-i in 2009 with the idea of developing assays that address critical unmet clinical needs in assessing organ health post-transplant," stated Dr. Sarwal. "We believe our products, beginning with k-SORT, will change the paradigm of clinical management for transplant patients, which is typically one of the most challenging aspects of transplant medicine."
About Immucor
Founded in 1982, Immucor is a global leader in transfusion and transplantation diagnostics that facilitate patient-donor compatibility. Our mission is to ensure that patients in need of blood, organs or stem cells get the right match that is safe, accessible and affordable. With the right match, we can transform a life together. For more information on Immucor, please visit our website at www.immucor.com.