Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 5, 1995 TAG: 9501050033
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
Roanoke Plasma, a blood donor center at 415 Campbell Ave. S.W., has been in business for 12 years and has 19 employees. Douglas Knowles, spokesman for Serologicals, said there should be no changes in the Roanoke operation. He said the acquisition will give his company an opportunity to develop a new product line and a new source of blood antibodies in which it deals.
The acquired company is Acadiana Ventures Inc. of Lafayette, La. Founded in 1974, Acadiana operates 13 blood donor centers, including Roanoke Plasma. As part of the acquisition, Acadiana will open an additional seven donor centers by the end of 1996.
Acadiana's centers specialize in the production of intravenous immunoglobulin, a therapeutic product that boosts the human immune system of patients whose systems have been compromised by diseases or treatments for diseases, such as chemotherapy for cancer.
Acadiana, which will be renamed Seramune Inc., will function as a wholly owned subsidiary of Serologicals Holdings, which operates 10 rare-antibody donor centers throughout the country, a clinical laboratory in Atlanta, a monoclonal antibody laboratory, a manufacturing facility in Scotland, and research and development laboratories in England and Norway.
Serologicals Holdings is an international biologic-based pharmaceutical company that manufactures and markets rare human antibodies for use in diagnosing, treating and preventing a wide range of diseases.
by CNB