by Ken Alltucker - May. 9, 2009
The Arizona Republic
A Japanese company tossed a financial lifeline to a Tucson biotech company by agreeing to acquire a majority stake and provide cash for operations over the next three years.
The deal gives Tucson-based BioVigilant the cash it needs to grow sales of its technology to detect contamination in the drug-manufacturing process.
"This is a bright spot in this economic environment," Deward Manzer, chief executive officer of BioVigilant, said Friday.
BioVigilant did not reveal financial terms of the investment made by Yamatake Corp., which is part of the Azbil Group.
Yamatake purchased a majority stake in the company from venture investors and agreed to provide an undisclosed amount of working capital for three years.
BioVigilant's management team will remain in place, but Yamatake will appoint three of five positions to BioVigilant's board of directors.
Manzer said it was an important year for his company because a major pharmaceutical company was expected to begin using the company's contamination-detection technology to manufacture drugs. Already, smaller drug manufacturers use BioVigilant's optical technology, and the company collected $1 million in sales last year.
Manzer would not name his customers, but BioVigilant works with a consortium of pharmaceutical companies such as Amgen, Bayer and Eli Lilly on the problem of drug impurities.
Under the deal Yamatake will provide engineering and manufacturing assistance, and Yamatake will help BioVigilant expand the sales in Asia.
BioVigilant has received early-stage funding from Scottsdale's Alerion Capital Group, the Desert Angels of Tucson and several other private and venture investors
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