CoreBiome, a medical startup that utilizes University of Minnesota research to analyze tiny organisms, has been acquired by OraSure Technologies Inc., the companies announced Friday.
Details of the acquisition were not disclosed, but the companies are expected to finalize the deal next week.
CoreBiome assists researchers studying microbiomes, collections of microorganisms that live in shared environments like the human gut. CoreBiome's customers include agriculture businesses and pharmaceutical companies.
Microbiomes can be difficult to study because they thrive in their own environments, not in labs, so generating sample sizes large enough for some types of research is challenging. CoreBiome addresses that problem by taking a microbiome sample, sequencing its genes, then using computer modeling to produce enough data to study and identify trends.
The technology behind CoreBiome is based on discoveries by U of M researchers Dan Knights, Ph.D., CoreBiome CEO and associate professor of computer science and engineering, Kenneth Beckman, Ph.D., director of the University of Minnesota Genomics Center (UMGC) and Daryl Gohl, Ph.D., research and development lead of UMGC.
Last year, CoreBiome snagged $550,000 in equity funding, according to an SEC filing. It also received a $220,000 grant from the University of Minnesota to accelerate the commercialization of its technology. In 2017, CoreBiome raised $800,000 from Minneapolis angel investor group Gopher Angels, the University of Minnesota and other undisclosed private investors.
Bethlehem, Penn.-based OraSure made headlines in 2012 when it received FDA approval for the first at-home H.I.V test. The OraQuick test uses a mouth swab and gives results in 20 to 40 minutes. Alternative testing methods required users to prick a finger and mail a drop of dried blood to a lab. OraQuick was seen as a major step forward in protecting the anonymity of those being tested for H.I.V.
Publicly-traded OraSure simultaneously announced today that it would buy Belgium-based Novosanis. It didn't disclose terms for that deal either, but said that the combined acquisitions would add between $4 million to $7 million to its 2019 revenue.
CoreBiome is one of the 140 companies that have launched out the the university's Venture Center and is now the fourth startup to be acquired or go public in the last 18 months.
