Marcy l’Etoile, France - April 12, 2010. bioMérieux announces today that it has agreed on the terms for the acquisition of certain assets from AnagnosTec, a company based in the greater Berlin area, specialized in microbial identification with MALDI-TOF* mass spectrometry technology.
Under the terms of the agreement, bioMérieux will acquire from AnagnosTec the microbial database for bacterial identification, the related intellectual property and know-how and work with AnagnosTec experts to develop bioMérieux’s offering in mass spectrometry-based solutions. AnagnosTec is a primary innovator and pioneer in the field of MALDI-TOF based microbiology.
“Our team has been building a comprehensive microbial mass spectra database for over a decade and we are very happy to put it in the hands of the best company in microbiology,” said Stefan Sauermann, Chief Executive Officer of AnagnosTec.
“Being able to build on AnagnosTec's extensive know-how and proprietary database solutions is an important asset for bioMérieux,” said Thierry Bernard, Corporate Vice President of Global Commercial Operations. “As the world leader in microbiology, bioMérieux brings the most complete offer for microbiology lab automation. We are continually expanding our product portfolio to meet the evolving needs of microbiologists.”
* Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometry
About Mass Spectrometry
Mass spectrometry is a technique used to identify simultaneously a multitude of molecules and determine their chemical structure by analyzing the mass and charge of their ions. Such molecular “signatures” can be used for rapid bacterial identification (ID) from isolated colonies. The use of mass spectrometry for bacterial ID is especially suitable and cost-efficient for laboratories with high volumes of samples. Mass spectrometry is not adapted for antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST). For microbiology customers who choose mass spectrometry for bacterial ID, bioMérieux is developing integrated workflow solutions with its VITEK® range, the world’s leading system for ID/AST, and intelligent software to ensure optimal user convenience, full sample traceability and quality of results.