St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA – Microbiologics, the leading global provider of biomaterial controls, announced today that it has acquired San Diego-based Virapur. A 15-year-old virology business, Virapur provides custom virus production, purification and viral assay services. Officials said the acquisition will allow Microbiologics to expand its research and development support services to vaccines and gene therapy, as well as broaden its viral molecular controls portfolio.

Virapur has developed a global customer base that includes the world’s leading vaccine manufacturers. In addition to viral propagation, purification and titration, they also provide custom screening services of antisera and antiviral compounds against virus panels. As a contract virology laboratory, Virapur has distinguished itself with its knowledge, customer focus and flexible timelines. The company occupies a state-of-the-art laboratory facility classified to handle biosafety level 2 and biosafety level 3 pathogens. Their BSL3 labs will expand the breadth of pathogens available to Microbiologics’ customers.

Microbiologics has provided clinical, food, water, pharmaceutical and cosmetic laboratories with reliable, ready-to-use microbial reference materials for more than 45 years. The company has a distribution network that reaches more than 140 countries worldwide. Chief Executive Officer, Brad Goskowicz, said, “Virapur’s expertise, technology and customer base, combined with Microbiologics’ distribution, sales and marketing capabilities will accelerate our collective growth and provide us access to new markets.”

Virapur Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer Marylou Gibson, Ph.D. will join Microbiologics’ senior management team, and will continue to manage Virapur’s operations out of its San Diego facility. “I’m excited to be joining the Microbiologics family and continuing the pursuit of our shared mission to provide the highest quality biomaterials for a safer, healthier world,” said Dr. Gibson. Gibson earned a Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Illinois. She served in high-level positions at Bristol Myers Squibb, Amgen and the University of California’s Gene Therapy Program before launching Virapur in 2002.

About Microbiologics: Microbiologics is the foremost biological products and services provider, focused on protecting the health and safety of people around the world. For over 50 years, they have been partnering with healthcare and life science laboratories, manufacturers and suppliers across the globe to co-create and provide biological control materials, assay services and consulting for microbiology, molecular diagnostics and virology. Headquartered in Saint Cloud, Minnesota, the company has additional facilities in Michigan, Kentucky and California. Microbiologics has advanced industry standards for biological controls by adopting the most rigorous testing and quality standards. The company has an extensive distribution network spanning over 150 countries. For more information, visit Microbiologics, Inc.