OGT to sell Cytocell products direct in North America

Oxford Gene Technology (OGT), The Molecular Genetics Company, based in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, acquired Cytocell, based in Cambridge, United Kingdom, in March. OGT announced that it will directly sell Cytocell products to the North American market beginning in June 2014.

OGT said that new and existing Cytocell customers in North America will now benefit from OGT's "expert and experienced sales and support infrastructure, which will be further enhanced through additional appointments in the coming months." OGT, which provides genetics research solutions to leading clinical and academic research institutions, was founded by Professor Sir Edwin Southern. With customers in more than 60 countries worldwide, OGT has a strong reputation and increasing share in the large and growing genomic medicine market.

OGT's acquisition of Cytocell saw the addition of a portfolio of Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH) probes to its CytoSure™ cytogenetics array and Genefficiency™ next generation sequencing products and services, expanding the company genomic medicine offering. The Cytocell®, CytoSure™ and Genefficiency™ range of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), microarray and next generation sequencing (NGS) products and services deliver high-quality genetic analysis, enabling accurate identification and confirmation of the causative variation underlying genetic disease.

Cytocell is a leading European developer and manufacturer of FISH probes for use in both routine cytogenetics and in the analysis and classification of cancers. The company's products are well established in cytogenetics as Cytocell is currently celebrating its 23rd year of supplying them to this market. More recently, the company has focused on developing products for oncology and now has a catalogue of some 350 products for cytogenetics, hematology and solid tumor analysis as well as developing custom FISH probes for customers with specific interests under themyProbes® brand. Cytocell's products are available through a well-established distributor network. Cytocell's FISH probe service is currently proving to be beneficial to cancer researchers and clinicians worldwide.

Dr Martin Lawrie, managing director of Cytocell said, "The global cytogenetics market is predicted to grow by 23 percent per year to $2 billion by 2019, and with North America accounting for approximately 50 percent of the market, OGT is now well placed to better serve this increasing customer base with a wider range of products."

He added, "The integration of Cytocell into the OGT group has proceeded extremely smoothly with very positive, immediate benefits for our customers. OGT's excellent and expanding sales team will provide our customers with the best possible sales and support experience moving forward."

In June, scientists can find out more about OGT's extended genomic medicine portfolio at two conferences: the International Collaboration for Clinical Genomics Conference, on June 11 and 12 in Bethesda, Maryland, and the Association of Genetic Technologists 39th Annual Meeting, on June 12 to 14, in Louisville, Kentucky.

The total genomics market has recently been projected to reach $19 billion by 2018. Current estimates put the cytogenetics market within which OGT operates at $1.5 billion by 2018. Of that total, microarray accounts for $962m and FISH $590m.