Pathogen Detection Systems, Inc., (PDS) a Kingston, Ontario, start-up seeking to improve municipal water quality through enhanced water monitoring and testing systems, has been acquired by Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies (VWS) of Paris, France. PDS was founded in 2003 to commercialize discoveries based on fiber optic sensory technology developed by Stephen Brown, PhD, professor of chemistry, and colleagues at Queen’s University, in collaboration with industry researchers. The patented PDS system provides laboratory-grade testing for E. coli and other coliform bacteria with superior speed, reliability, and productivity to current methods. “This is an extraordinary example of technology transfer from university to industry,” says John Molloy, president and CEO of PARTEQ Innovations, the TTO for Queen’s. “This technology was developed at Queen’s and licensed by PARTEQ to a small group of entrepreneurs that formed PDS. Together we attracted the attention of the world’s leading water company, which is making a considerable investment to take this technology worldwide.” The acquisition by VWS will allow PDS to develop its next generation of water monitoring systems during a three-year, $8.7-million project that includes up to $2.4 million in funding from Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) — an arm’s-length, not-for-profit corporation created by the Canadian government. PDS has expanded from a single lab to an integrated suite of labs and administrative space in Queen’s Innovation Park, an incubator in the university’s Biosciences Complex that provides direct access to collaborators in the university’s chemistry and microbiology departments. Over the next three years, PDS will more than double its R&D investment in Queen’s, to approximately $2.3 million. The company also expects to grow from two full-time employees and three full-time Queen’s researchers to a staff of 20 by the end of 2009.
Source: Marketwire