Phthisis Diagnostics Acquired by Microbiologics

Phthisis Diagnostics has announced its acquisition by Microbiologics, a St. Cloud, Minnesota-based company. Phthisis’ innovative, patented G-Sphere® molecular standards product line will be the foundation for Microbiologics’ launch into molecular products and a new division it is forming for this fresh direction. G-Sphere® standards are synthetic genes that provide safe, stable, consistent, and abundant controls for virtually any organism or molecular assay.

Crystal Icenhour, PhD, President and Chief Science Officer at Phthisis since 2006, created this new technology with her research team. She observed, “We were pleased that Microbiologics approached us with an interest in complementing their existing product offerings with our molecular standards line. 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.”

Brad Goskowicz, Microbiologics Chief Executive Officer, commented, “These innovative molecular standards will lay the foundation for Microbiologics to design and launch a broad collection of molecular products and custom services. It will expand our range of biomaterials to include viruses and other hard to grow microorganisms.” Currently, Microbiologics produces an array of lyophilized (freeze-dried) microorganism products in convenient, ready-to-use formats for quality control of microbiological testing.

Dr. Icenhour 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 (SBIR) grants. She has been a leader in several professional organizations at the national, regional, and local level. She will serve as an advisor with Microbiologics during the adoption of Phthisis’ technology and development of their new division.

Microbiologics is adding Brian Beck, PhD to its senior management team as Vice President of Molecular Products and Services. Dr. Beck holds a doctorate in Bacteriology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has spent the last ten years at ATCC in Manassas, Virginia where he managed the Microbiology Collection and Associated BioServices. “I’m quite excited to extend what Microbiologics has done with their culture business and bring that same practical, user-friendly format to the molecular diagnostic business,” Beck said.

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.

To commence their new initiative in molecular products, Microbiologics will be exhibiting at the upcoming Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) 2013 Annual Meeting from November 14-16, 2013 in Phoenix, Arizona. Visit them at booth # 231 to learn more.