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www.fdanews.com/articles/169801-t2-biosystems-and-canon-to-develop-rapid-lyme-disease-test

T2 Biosystems and Canon to Develop Rapid Lyme Disease Test

February 3, 2015

Lexington, Mass., diagnostics maker T2 Biosystems announced Monday it is partnering with Canon U.S. Life Sciences to develop a diagnostic test panel to rapidly detect Lyme disease.

Under the terms of the deal, T2 will retain worldwide sales, marketing and distribution rights to any fruits of the collaboration, while Canon will receive royalty payments on all product sales. T2 will receive $2 million up front and $8.5 million in potential milestone payments from Canon.

The collaboration combines T2’s proprietary T2MR technology with Canon’s expertise in improving diagnostics, said T2 President and CEO John McDonough. The goal is to produce a test that can provide accurate results in hours instead of weeks — the case when using blood cultures to test for Lyme disease. This will improve outcomes for patients and reduce costs associated with the disease, he added.

An estimated 30,000 people in the U.S. are get Lyme disease each year, a number that could be closer to 360,000 due to underreporting, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. The agency blames the smaller number on poor diagnostic testing. — Kellen Owings