CAMBRIDGE, Mass.– Vizgen, the life science company dedicated to improving human health by visualizing single-cell spatial genomics information, today announced the availability of its MERSCOPE™ spatial genomics platform in Asia-Pacific (APAC), Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). To support its global expansion, Vizgen has signed agreements with four distributors for APAC covering China/Hong Kong, Japan, Australia and South Korea, as well as EMEA distributors in Switzerland and Israel.
The MERSCOPE Platform has already been installed in a number of countries throughout Asia Pacific and Europe, with Australia and New Zealand distributed via Integrated Sciences, China distributed via Gene Company, Japan via PRIMETECH and Switzerland distributed via Bucher Biotec. In addition, Vizgen has a direct sales and support presence for the UK, BENELUX, Nordics, France, Germany and Singapore, and has signed agreements with Eldan of Israel, and MDxK for South Korea.
“When studying a complex organ such as the lung, it is crucial to preserve the fragile morphology of the tissue. The compatibility of Vizgen’s MERSCOPE platform with Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded (FFPE) samples provide us with the extraordinary opportunity to analyze gene expression at a cellular level on valuable archival samples,” said Dr. Pascal Barbry of Université Côte d’Azur and CNRS, France. “We believe that the approaches being developed by Vizgen will further the research being done on devastating lung diseases.”
In addition to the global distribution agreements, the company has appointed Dr. Mickael Ploquin as Regional Director for EMEA.
“With our recent launch of the MERSCOPE Platform in the U.S. and today’s international expansion, we are well poised to deliver on our vision to bring single-cell spatial genomics technology into laboratories around the world,” said Dale Levitzke, Senior Vice President, Global Sales and Support. “With a background in science and sales, Mickael is the ideal person to lead Vizgen’s rapid growth in the European market. I look forward to working with Mickael and our soon-to-be appointed commercial leader for the APAC region in our quest to help accelerate biological research and discovery.”
An experienced sales leader with a demonstrated history of working in the European biotechnology industry, Dr. Ploquin most recently served as Sales and Market Development Manager, EMEA, at DNA Script. Previously, Dr. Ploquin spent 5 years at 10x Genomics, overseeing the company’s growth in France.
“Our team is excited to work with Vizgen in their global expansion efforts and be their official distributor in Australia and New Zealand. Excitement is high as we recently installed our first MERSCOPE Platform at WEHI in Australia. We look forward to bringing this technology to many more customers through Australia and New Zealand, enabling them to use MERFISH technology to directly map and quantify the spatial distribution of hundreds of RNA species in individual cells,” said Hamilton Fraval, National Sales Manager of Integrated Sciences.
