German firm Sartorius acquires Broomfield-based ViroCyt

BROOMFIELD — Life-science startup ViroCyt LLC announced on Friday that the company has been acquired by Germany-based Sartorius, an international provider of pharmaceutical and laboratory tools.

Sartorius paid $16 million for Broomfield-based ViroCyt in the cash deal.

ViroCyt president and CEO Robert Kline said in an interview Friday that the company will maintain its branding and continue to operate as a standalone company for the foreseeable future. He said all 12 employees, including him, will be retained.

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Formed in late 2012 as a spinoff of Boulder-based InDevR, ViroCyt develops instrumentation and reagents that allow for the quantification of virus particles in a given sample in just minutes. The company is projected to achieve more than $3 million in sales this year.

“We’ve really been able to fine-tune and improve our technology to the point that I think it’s a really good solution for a number of opportunities and applications in the biotech world,” Kline said. “But as a small company we don’t have the reach to get to all of the opportunities. … (The acquisition) is a great opportunity to accelerate the scaling of our business.”

ViroCyt, which initially was based in Denver, launched with $3 million in venture capital, led by High Country Venture in Boulder. The company last year added another $3.5 million round. The company moved to Boulder in late 2013 before moving again to Broomfield last November to accommodate growth.

Eight of ViroCyt’s employees are based at the company’s headquarters at 100 Technology Drive in Broomfield, with the rest spread throughout the country. Kline said the acquisition by Sartorius should mean more hiring locally.

“The whole idea behind the partnership is to grow the business, so over time we will be adding resources,” Kline said.