Alpha Innotech Gets GE Channel

Alpha Innotech, a 13-year-old San Leandro, Calif., digital imaging company today announced a marketing alliance with GE Healthcare.

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed and it is not clear what the impact would be on GE Healthcare. Alpha Innotech, which operates out of a 35,000 square-foot facility, termed the partnership significant.

This deal is interesting within the focus of the New Biology Economy in that it illustrates a processes for enlarging a small company's market through distribution agreements. GE Healthcare has a large network of partners, including Harvard Bioscience and PerkinElmer.

In a statement, Alpha Innotech said it will supply imaging systems for life-sciences research that will be sold under the GE brand by GE Healthcare. The imaging products will be bundled with GE Healthcare's DNA and protein electrophoresis prducts.
In a statement, a spokesperson for GE Healthcare's Discovery Systems business segment said that the agreement “completes” GE portfolio of imaging products.

The GE agreement gives the company's its largest partnership. Currently, Alpha Innotech has partnerships with Clontech, Genemed, Panomics, Pierce Engogen and SuperArray.

Alpha Innotech in December announced a reverse merger with Xtrana of Broomfield, Colo. Formerly known as Biopool International, Xtrana was a developer of nucleic-acid testing technology. Previous to the merger announcement and facing liquidation, Xtrana sold its intellectual property to Applied Biosystems for $4 million in cash.

[Tags -- Alpha Innotech, GE Healthcare, Alliance, Partnerships, Genomics]