South Korean diagnostics company Seegene said Thursday that the company has partnered with Bio-Rad Laboratories for the clinical development and commercialization of diagnostic products in the US.

Under the agreement, Seegene will provide the company’s diagnostic tests for use on Bio-Rad’s molecular diagnostic CFX96 Dx Real-Time PCR Detection Systems.

The contract will run for five years from the date that the two companies win approvals from the US Food and Drug Administration.

Seegene and Bio-Rad have started the process to receive approval from the US FDA for Seegene’s Allplex SARS-CoV-2/FluA/FluB/RSV Assay and seven other test kits, for use in combination with Bio-Rad‘s diagnostic equipment.

Seegene’s Allplex assay is a real-time polymerase chain reaction assay that can detect and differentiate between eight target genes, including three different target genes of COVID-19.

Seegene said the company will also review options to build local production and research facilities in the US, through which the company could speed up the FDA approval process in the future.

Bio-Rad has been one of the key partners of Seegene for the past 10 years. Seegene has applied its diagnostic reagents to around 3,900 units of BioRad’s diagnostic equipment, through which the company generated more than 1 trillion won ($883 million) in annual sales.

Seegene said the company expects that the latest contract with Bio-Rad will provide a competitive edge to the company in the US market.