EKF Diagnostics Acquires Separation Technology, Featuring a Novel Blood-Donor Screening Device

Global in vitro diagnostics (IVD) company EKF Diagnostics (Cardiff, UK) has acquired Separation Technology, Inc. (STI; Sanford, FL, USA), manufacturer of IVD devices for hematology testing, complementing EKF’s existing offering in the hemoglobin testing market, which includes Hemo Control (also sold as HemoPoint H2 in USA and Asia).

Notably, STI’s primary instrument is the UltraCrit hematocrit measurement device – FDA cleared for blood donor screening. STI also features an in-house engineering capability, including product design, production support, and new product development.

STI develops, manufactures, and markets specialty IVD devices including ultrasound instruments and tabletop centrifuges, including the HemataSTAT centrifuge, also used for hematocrit reading protocols. STI’s FDA cleared UltraCrit is the first and only hematocrit/hemoglobin measurement device to use ultrasound technology. The hematocrit reading is displayed automatically in about 30 seconds and provides a hematocrit value that allows for standardization for all collections, including whole blood, apheresis, and double red cell collections. UltraCrit uses reagentless cuvettes, a major point of differentiation between different analyzers.

“The acquisition of STI is a great, natural fit with our existing point-of-care business, and UltraCrit provides us with a leading product for measuring hematocrit during blood donor screening with huge potential both within the US and internationally,” said Julian Baines, CEO of EKF. STI’s revenues are currently concentrated in the USA; however, it has recently registered products in Brazil (UltraCrit), as well as Kazakhstan, Russia, and Thailand, and seeks to expand its offering into additional markets. STI currently employs 15 staff, and is being sold by Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

EKF Diagnostics saw a year of strong organic growth in 2013 and now has an installed base of over 50,000 analyzers and manufactures nearly 50 million tests annually. Highlights for 2013 include a 42% increase in EKF sales of Hemo Control (HemoPoint H2), and sales for its Quo-Lab and Quo-Test glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) point-of-care analyzers up by 75%. Its Biosen range of glucose and lactate analyzers also showed a significant sales increase of 20%.

Related Links:
EKF Diagnostics
Separation Technology