Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 12, 1994 TAG: 9401130018
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The 5-year-old company invented a medical diagnostic test that can identify when bacteria has invaded the colons of patients whose normal bacteria has been killed by antibiotics. The test produces results in one hour, replacing a test that normally took 24 hours.
TechLab, which began as a research and development business in one room at the center and has expanded to 10, has had to farm out the product to a Maryland company for manufacture, said Tracy Wilkins, president of TechLab.
The loan, provided by MBC Development Corporation, will allow TechLab to buy equipment and covert a room into a sterile ``clean-room'' environment where the product can be made, Wilkins said.
MBC, which stands for Montgomery-Blacksburg-Christiansburg, was impressed by TechLab's million dollar annual sales, its expansion and its projects for the future, said Raymond Smoot, president of MBC. It is the third and largest loan forwarded by the corporation, founded in 1986.
The development corporation provides money for businesses that may not be able to secure additional bank funding. It has been funded by $50,000 contributions from both the First National Bank of Christiansburg and the National Bank of Blacksburg.
Wilkins, director of Virginia Tech's biotechnology program, and two other Tech scientists founded TechLab in 1989. The company employs 12 people, and hopes to hire three to five more in the next year, Wilkins said. Sales from the diagnostic test exceed $1.4 million a year, the company is working at getting federal approval for other tests that focus on diarrheal disease and is exploring international marketing opportunities.
``We want to be the first name in diarrhea,'' Wilkins joked.
by CNB