Sysmex Corporation (HQ: Kobe, Japan; Chairman and CEO: Hisashi Ietsugu) announced today that, on December 14, 2020, it signed a Global Business Partnership Agreement ("GBPA") with Roche Diagnostics International Ltd. (HQ: Rotkreuz, Switzerland) ("Roche"), the diagnostic reagent business unit of F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Ltd. (HQ: Basel, Switzerland).
Sysmex will continue to leverage this successful alliance to maximize its strengths with the aim of providing its global customers with high-value-added services that exceed their expectations.
In 1999, Sysmex and Roche entered into a Distributorship Sales and Service Agreement ("DSSA"), under which Roche distributed Sysmex hematology products and provided services in overseas markets. This mutually beneficial arrangement has since advanced in accordance with changes in the market. In 2018, the two concluded a non-exclusive collaboration agreement (Total Laboratory Solution Collaboration Agreement) ("TLSA") concerning projects in which customers desire to purchase products for clinical chemistry, immunochemistry, and hematology testing from one vendor, thus each tapping into their respective advantages to increase market penetration while simultaneously fostering a good working relationship.
Sysmex and Roche signed the GBPA on December 14, 2020 to form a framework for their alliance and commenced activities accordingly on January 1, 2021. The GBPA includes the DSSA and the TLSA, as well as an IT Solutions Collaboration Agreement, and the two companies have agreed to develop a next-generation global alliance.
Roche will continue to distribute and support Sysmex hematology products in selected countries in Central and South America, Europe, southern Africa, and Oceania. Sysmex, on the other hand, is planning to boost direct sales and support structures in Spain and India, both of which were added to their list of territories pursuant to the TLSA, in a bid to increase the resilience of the two companies' global sales and service network.
The two companies utilize each other's IT platforms to seek an alliance for improved customer service over the short and medium term and to increase clinical value over the long term.
Through this alliance, Sysmex will maximize its strengths, including competitive products and services and extensive sales and service networks, with a view toward contributing to the development of the healthy lives of people by providing customers the world over with high-value-added services that exceed their expectations.
Overview of the Global Business Partnership Agreement (GBPA)
Date of agreement: December 14, 2020
Content: Stipulates a global partnership between Sysmex and RD and includes three individual agreements (DSSA, TLSA, and IT Solutions Collaboration Agreement)
Duration: January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2030 (DSSA expires on August 31, 2026)
Information contained in this press release is current as of the date of the announcement, but may be subject to change without prior notice.
