After acquiring a homegrown startup, French biotechnology giant bioMérieux has opened a new molecular and genomic innovation center at the Navy Yard, writes Kristen Mosbrucker-Garza for WHYY.

Currently, around 50 people work at the center, with plenty of room for expansion.

“This is open 24/7,” said Adam Joelsson, senior director of assay development, industrial applications research and development at bioMérieux.

The center is located on the second floor of the newest commercial office building – that was constructed as speculative development – in the Navy Yard. The space subsequently attracted the new division of bioMérieux, which was previously a Philadelphia startup Invisible Sentinel acquired for $75 million in recent years.

“Who would have thought that the world leader [of the food safety] industry would have acquired our company … that started out of essentially a tiny walk-in closet that we called a lab at the University City Science Center,” said Ben Pascal, global head of bioMérieux’s xPRO program and co-founder of Invisible Sentinel.

The startup developed molecular tests that detect contaminants that can spoil food, such as poultry, or ruin some drinks including beer and juices, and are the backbone of bioMérieux’s xPRO program.

Read more about bioMérieux’s new molecular and genomic innovation center in WHYY.

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