Synbiotics Gets $1.7 Million for Rights to Disease Tests

SAN DIEGO — A division of SmithKline Beckman Corp., one of the nation’s largest pharmaceutical companies, will pay Synbiotics $1.7 million for exclusive marketing rights to five new infectious disease tests that doctors can use in their offices, Synbiotics said Wednesday.

Revenue that would flow to Synbiotics from the new line of tests is expected to exceed $25 million during the first five years of product sales, according to Synbiotics Vice President Martin Nash.

SmithKline Diagnostics will make the $1.7-million licensing payment during the coming year. “The first payment is coming next week and most of the $1.7 million will be received by Synbiotics within the next year,” Nash said.

The San Jose-based division of SmithKline Beckman will market the products worldwide, Nash said.

SmithKline won’t identify which diseases the new tests will cover it because it “does not want to alert its competitors to what its new products will be,” according to Nash.

All but one of the new tests will be for infectious diseases, Nash said. And both companies expect to expand the product line beyond the five initial tests, Nash said.

The new line of diagnostic products is based on Synbiotics’ proprietary, monoclonal antibody technology. Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-produced versions of the body’s natural disease fighters, Nash said.

The company already produces eight veterinary products and one human diagnostic product. Those products are not covered by the agreement announced Wednesday.

Synbiotics recently moved its manufacturing facilities to a 16,000-square-foot facility in Rancho Bernardo. The company will use part of the $1.7-million payment from SmithKline Diagnostics to expand its research program.

SmithKline Beckman owns 8.2% of Synbiotics’ outstanding common stock, according to Nash.