Microbiologics Buys Phthisis

St. Cloud, Minn.-based Microbiologics Inc. has completed the acquisition of Charlottesville, Va.-based Phthisis Diagnostics LLC, creating a new molecular products division. The acquisition also give Microbiologics access to Phthisis’ patented process for designing and manufacturing molecular standards. These molecular standards are specifically designed to be used as performance controls for a wide variety of molecular instruments and assays in pharmaceutical, food safety and clinical testing.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“These innovative molecular standards will lay the foundation for Microbiologics to design and launch a broad collection of molecular products and custom services.,” said Brad Goskowicz, Microbiologics’ CEO. “It will expand our range of biomaterials to include viruses and other hard to grow microorganisms.”

Microbiologics makes an array of lyophilized microorganism products for quality control of microbiological testing.

Joining the Microbiologics senior management team is Brian Beck, Ph.D., vice president of molecular products and services. Beck earned his Ph.D. in bacteriology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has spent the last ten years at ATCC (American Type Culture Collection) in Manassas, Va. where he managed the microbiology collection.

“I’m quite excited to extend what Microbiologics has done with their culture business and bring that same practical, user-friendly type of format to the molecular diagnostic business,” Beck said.

“We were pleased that Microbiologics approached us with an interest in complementing their existing product offerings with our molecular standards line,” said Crystal Icenhour, Ph.D., president and chief science officer at Phthisis since 2006. “It is an ideal fit since both companies have focused on high quality and easy to use products. We introduced this product line about a year ago to provide much needed quality control standards to molecular laboratories. I am pleased that this longer established company will have the structure to take these products much further than our smaller company could have.”

Icenhour will serve as an advisor with Microbiologics during the adoption of Phthisis’ technology and development of their new division. She has been recognized with industry awards for her scientific innovation and entrepreneurship. She is an adjunct assistant professor at Duke University Medical Center’s Division of Infectious Diseases in their department of medicine. In addition to authoring and co-authoring numerous publications, she has been a prolific speaker and presenter at scientific conferences and served on review panels for the National Science Foundation and the Environmental Protection Agency Small Business Innovation Research grants. She has also been a leader in several professional organizations at the national, regional, and local level.

Molecular diagnostic methods have been increasingly used in recent years to improve the sensitivity and speed of diagnosis in infectious diseases. Initially, their use was limited to detection of pathogens that are difficult to culture in vitro¸ but they are now widely used for epidemiological fingerprinting of isolates of public health importance and clinical laboratories are increasingly using them to diagnose genetic and infectious disease. Faster, more accurate diagnosis allows for better patient outcomes and potential for significant cost savings in the health care system.

Phthisis Diagnostics’ flagship product line is Simply Molecular, a line of molecular products designed for speed, accuracy, and ease of use. In addition to its burgeoning molecular standards, Phthisis developed enzyme-based extraction kits for rapid sample preparation in laboratories. The company has also developed molecular diagnostic assays to detect intestinal pathogens associated with diarrheal disease.