NEW YORK — GBS announced an exclusivity agreement with drug screening company Intelligent Fingerprinting (IFP) on Thursday ahead of a planned acquisition.
Under the terms of the deal, GBS has until the end of the year to evaluate and negotiate the acquisition of IFP and its assets. As part of the agreement, GBS has entered into a bridge facility agreement and provided IFP with a loan of $500,000 repayable should IFP terminate the agreement, or by year-end.
Additional terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Sydney-based GBS offers diagnostics on its organic thin film transistor technology platform, such as its Saliva Glucose Biosensor for the point-of-care monitoring of diabetes. IFP, headquartered in Cambridge, UK, offers its Drug Screening System, which works by analyzing fingerprint sweat using single-use disposable cartridges paired with a portable reader. The company also offers a saliva-based SARS-CoV-2 test, for which it obtained a CE-IVD mark last year.
Combining the two firms’ technologies will enable GBS to “serve a wider spectrum of patients at point of care across global diagnostic markets,” Steven Boyages, interim CEO at GBS, said in a statement. The company also expects additional revenues from the deal as GBS would expand its portfolio of tests.
If it acquires IFP, GBS will gain not just the UK firm’s product portfolio, but its ISO 13485 compliant facility in the UK. The company is currently developing its own facility at the University of Newcastle in Australia. IFP also has an established network of distributors around the world and currently employs 30 people.