Genedrive PLC (LON:GDR) has terminated its agreement with Xcelris after running into further problems with the launch of MTB/RIF tuberculosis tests in India.
The London-listed company cut its ties with its commercial partner in India after problems were experienced in assessing the impact of remedial action taken to address a specific sample preparation problem for the rapid molecular test for tuberculosis (TB).
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The company is now assessing how best to address the Indian market and the broader global potential for its Genedrive platform in TB testing. It has previously indicated it did not, in any case, expect to generate revenues in the short-term from the MTB/RIF test.
"The termination of the contract is of course disappointing; however, the overall market dynamics of MTB/RIF have not changed since we first described the opportunity,” said David Budd, chief executive officer of Genedrive.
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“The clinical challenges remain, and the market is large and well defined with significant potential in decentralised settings. With the benefit of additional experience acquired in the field, we believe that with some enhancement to sample collection we can introduce a product suitable for not only the Indian market, but the broader global markets into which we now have distribution channels," he added.
Shares in Genedrive tumbled 2.4p to 35.1p in early deals.