bioMérieux Opens New Production Line at Durham Facility, Expanding Capacity of BacT/ALERT® Blood Culturing Bottles Vital in Fight Against Resistant Infections 

31 March, 2017

Durham, NC – March 29, 2017 – bioMérieux, a world leader in the field of in vitro diagnostics, is proud to announce the opening of a new production line at its Americas Headquarters in Durham, North Carolina.

Durham, NC – March 29, 2017 – bioMérieux, a world leader in the field of in vitro diagnostics, is proud to announce the opening of a new production line at its Americas Headquarters in Durham, North Carolina. The new production line represents an approximately $60 million investment by the company and will produce the global supply of bioMerieux’s BacT/ALERT® 3D culture products, which play a crucial role in the rapid diagnosis of resistant infections and Sepsis.

As global demand increases for these tools, fighting serious infections is a race against the clock and minutes count. Rapid detection and identification of microorganisms by clinical microbiology laboratories is of crucial importance for optimal patient treatment, especially for serious infections such as blood stream infections which may progress to severe sepsis. The BacT/ALERT product line is the system of choice for thousands of hospitals worldwide who are on the front lines in this battle.

Susan Fleetwood, Director of Business Development for the State of North Carolina, Department of Commerce, representing Governor Roy Cooper and Secretary of Commerce Tony Copeland; Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest; and Alexandre Mérieux, CEO of bioMérieux, joined federal, state, county and city representatives, sepsis survivors and the Durham bioMérieux leadership team and staff to celebrate.

The new production line created 100 new permanent jobs, increasing bioMerieux’s Durham employment to 900 and its number of employees worldwide to close to 10,000. State and local incentives for the project totaled $620,000. The expanded production capability adds 36,000 square feet to the facility’s 250,000 square-foot structure.

bioMérieux added this production capacity in response to the worldwide increase of blood borne infections, including sepsis and antibiotic-resistant infections, which has increased the demand for blood culture products like BacT/ALERT.

BacT/ALERT® in the news:

Triangle Business Journal: "BioMérieux cuts ribbon on $60M Durham expansion"
The News & Observer: "Stopping antibiotic resistance could start with a bottle made in Durham"

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