Neogen acquires BioLumix

Neogen, an international food safety company based in Lansing, Michigan in the US, has acquired all the outstanding stock of BioLumix for an undisclosed sum.

BioLumix is an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based manufacturer of automated systems for the detection of microbial contaminants.

Neogen says it will consolidate the BioLumix business with its Soleris technology, which is used for the detection of micro-organisms in the food industry, as well as the nutraceutical market. The Soleris system was the first in the industry to be used for the detection of microbial contamination based on an innovative application of well-accepted classical microbiology, the company says.

'Combining the Soleris and BioLumix technologies, market bases, and outstanding technical staff will greatly enhance both businesses and offer significant labour-saving rapid solutions for the food, pharmaceutical, and personal care businesses,' said James Herbert, Chief Executive and Chairman of Neogen.

The BioLumix test platform includes an instrument where test vials are incubated and automatically read for results, and an automatic system to alert users to sample results. The basic unit accommodates 32 different test vials at a time and can be combined in modules to accommodate up to 1,000 different samples simultaneously.

>Test vials are the consumable portion of the platform and contain growth media and indicators for a number of different micro-organisms. A sample is simply added to the vial, and the vial inserted into the instrument.

BioLumix currently has 19 different micro-organism tests. Specialised software shows test results as soon as detections occur, and avoids the need for involvement from a hands-on operator. The software also creates and maintains all the necessary audit trails to comply with various government regulations.