BioMérieux, the French biotechnology testing company, is relocating to a new facility at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, writes Kristen Mosbrucker-Garza for WHYY.

The multipurpose site will function as the company’s molecular innovation center, the home of its xPRO program for development and manufacturing of custom testing kits and its predictive diagnostics innovation center.

In the event that a food manufacturer’s production is offline due to the contamination of an unknown substance, BioMérieux steps in to help with identification and testing to get back up and running. The company can even sequence the genes of the organism as part of its research to determine what the organism might be and whether it will lead a food or beverage to spoil.

“It’s often the industry that approaches us and says we’ve got an issue with these types of microorganisms,” said Ben Pascal, global head of BioMérieux’s xPRO program. “We don’t know what these organisms are and a lot of times they’re not defined. So we do a discovery phase through our augmented diagnostic program that often leads us to building a new [test] to address the problem.”

The company chose the Navy Yard for its new location to be closer to its manufacturing and pharmaceutical industry customers and allow employees to stay in Philly.

Read more about BioMérieux relocation to the Navy Yard in WHYY.

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