MADISON, WI — GenTel BioSciences, Inc., a protein chip-based life sciences company, has acquired the protein chip platform assets of GlaxoSmithKline, Inc., one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. GenTel was formed six years ago and this acquisition is a major step forward in their growth and capability to serve the life science industry.
“This acquisition means GenTel has significantly expanded its capabilities and further strengthens our position in offering our customers the best in multiplexed immunoassay products and services,” said GenTel President and CEO Alex D. Vodenlich.
“In one fell swoop, this puts GenTel into the front ranks of service providers to the life science industry,” said Vodenlich. “This accelerates our business tremendously.”
Paul Domanico, former Vice President for Technology Development, US at GSK, and now President of Paul Domanico Consulting, LLC in Durham, N.C., said the GSK platform will give GenTel “the complete suite of capabilities to develop multiplexed protein biomarker applications necessary to improve our understanding of disease.”
“This is a big coup for GenTel and I think it puts them ahead of everyone in their market,” added Domanico, an expert in drug discovery, technology development and executive management. “This makes them a force to recognize.”
“There are many corporate customers who outsource such work to experts,” says Vodenlich. Vodenlich described the GSK protein chip platform as a system that integrates instruments, software, statistical tools and know-how to enable scientists to quickly develop, process and analyze quantitative, highly multiplexed protein microarrays.
Customers – including large pharmaceutical companies – can now turn to GenTel for arraying specific antibodies or antigens, developing and validating specific assays, and screening their pre-clinical and clinical samples.
Vodenlich said, “It would have taken us a long time to duplicate such a platform. We will have the platform running, validated, and commercially viable within the first quarter of this year.”
Vodenlich said GenTel’s relationship with GSK began roughly two years ago, when GenTel began a collaboration with GSK to supply and evolve the GenTel protein array slides.
Dr. Anna Astriab-Fisher, formerly of GSK, evaluated GenTel’s protein array slides and found that the data generated using GenTel slides and Glaxo’s system gave her the best results. “We got to know her pretty well in the process,” Vodenlich said. Dr. Fisher was hired by GenTel in November and is now Vice President of Assay Development.
Fisher called GenTel an “excellent company” and said she was delighted to join its ranks. “In some ways I feel like I’ve been part of their team for some time,” she said. “We had many choices, but we picked GenTel’s slides because they are the best.”
“Dr. Fisher and her colleagues developed some key applications that are now GenTel property,” Vodenlich said.
Robert Negm, GenTel’s Vice President for Business Development, said the acquisition of GSK’s protein chip platform gives GenTel added credibility, and will improve the quality and quantity of data it can deliver to customers.
“This is a quantum leap and puts us on the map with the leaders in our market segment,” he said. “We are very pleased.”
Financial details of the transaction were not released by the privately-held GenTel. The announcement was made today at an open house to mark the company’s new headquarters in the Fitchburg Technology Park south of Madison, Wisconsin.
GenTel BioSciences is a protein chip-based life sciences company whose mission is to deliver new standards in discovery, medical care, and public safety through the application of proprietary miniaturized tests. GenTel BioSciences was founded in 2000 and has expanded its operations to include a facility in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Recently, GenTel closed a two million dollar round of financing led by two prominent Wisconsin-based investor organizations; NEW Capital Fund, LP, based in Appleton, Wisconsin and Wisconsin Investment Partners, LLC, a life science-oriented angel investment network based in Madison.
For more information about GenTel, visit www.gentelbio.com
