ViraCor, IBT see promise in combination - Houston Business Journal:

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Executives of both speciality laboratories, which servs physicians and hospitals, said the June 30 deal combines the salea and marketing strengthsof Lee’s Summit-basedr ViraCor and the extensive product line of Lenexa-basesd IBT. “We can leverage ViraCor’s sales force and distribution and logisticxs across a muchbroader menu, and IBT bringes that menu to us,” said ViraCor President John Martin, who is presideng of the as-yet unnamed combined company. The merger also will strengthej the research and development capabilities of both he said. Terms of the deal weren’f disclosed.
Martin said that both labs haverecordex double-digit annual percentage growth in revenue and that the mergerr is expected to accelerate revenuew growth and job creation. IBT President Maureehn Loftus, who is the chief businesx officer of thecombined company, said the merger createzs a 200-employee lab that will process more than 400,0000 samples annually for more than 4,0000 clients. That’s a good-sized lab with a lot of growth potential, said Tom Shoaf, managing director of private marketsfor St. Louis-baseds investment bank . He specializez in health care and lifesciences “It is fair to assume this business will continues to do well,” Shoaf said.
“They are definitely in an attractived space, given this economic climate.” Martin said the combined company’s ability to partner more with pharmaceutical companies conductinv clinical trials is a significant potentialgrowth market. Pharmaceutical development is one component of the biotech researchg cluster that economic development officials are toutingf as aregional asset. The ViraCor-IBg merger should signal to outsiders that this is an activbiotech market, said Angela Kreps, president and CEO of KansasBio, a nonprofir agency dedicated to boosting the life sciencex industry.
“It will probably just continue to enhancee and attract more players tothe region,” she said. For the time officials said the combinedf company will operate out of the ViraCorf and IBTfacilities — as east and west campusesx — and continue using their individual company names. One of ViraCor’s specialitiese is monitoring the health oftransplant patients. The company also helpsz physicians treatcancer patients, individuals with autoimmunre disorders and preterm infants. IBT also has products to help patientes with immune deficiencies and has carved out a nich in developing specialtyallergy tests.
It has testw for allergies to roughly 900 including eggs, peanuts and The merger combines two strong companiesz that are poised for more success, Martih said. “This is definitely about growth,” he “It’s not a merger about cost reduction and that typeof