13 June 2016 - - US-based life science company Thermo Fisher Scientific has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Cytonome/ST to be the exclusive distributor of a new line of flow cytometry cell sorting technology that the companies will co-develop, the company said on Monday.

The agreement combines Thermo Fisher's extensive channel reach and commercialisation capabilities and Cytonome's sorting technology expertise and heritage of disruptive innovation.

According to Thermo Fisher, srystems that have very short learning curves and time-saving features are critical to expedite discovery, particularly for researchers who are not familiar with flow cytometry.

A key objective of the partnership is to develop easy-to-use technology designed to initiate a transformation where any scientist can readily take advantage of cell sorting in their lab and use the power of these systems to garner insights faster than ever before.

Thermo Fisher Scientific posts revenues of USD 17bn and more than 50,000 employees in 50 countries.

Its brands include Thermo Scientific, Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Fisher Scientific and Unity Lab Services.