Cambrex Acquire Genolife Rapid Microbial Detection Company

Cambrex have announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Cambrex France SARL, has acquired Genolife SA for approximately $6.0 million in cash.

Genolife, located in Saint Beauzire, France, is an innovative biotechnology company specializing in rapid microbial detection testing for the pharmaceutical, agriculture, food, and cosmetic industries. The Genolife DNA chip technology measures total viable count in less than 5 hours.

Cambrex will also use the technology internally for in-process testing of its own media, biologics and cell therapy production to cut product costs and cycle times. Cambrex also plans to use its existing endotoxin detection sales force for the introduction of the products and services using the Genolife and Epoch technologies. Product and service introductions are expected as early as 2005.

Genolife, founded in 1996, has provided products and services for bacterial, yeast and fungal identification and Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) detection services.