Santa Maria, Feb. 09, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SANTA MARIA, CALIFORNIA, February 9 – Hardy Diagnostics announced today the acquisition of GG&B Company in Wichita Falls, Texas, maker of innovative automated microscope slide stainers for laboratory use.
“GB&B has been an industry leader in the development and manufacture of clinical laboratory equipment since it was founded in 1974,” said Jay Hardy, President of Hardy Diagnostics. “With the recent launch of the innovative QuickSlide GramPro 80, Hardy Diagnostics is proud to be on the leading edge of automated slide stainer technology.”
The QuickSlide GramPro 80 is capable of gram staining up to 80 slides per hour, hands-free, and yet is compact enough to fit on any lab counter top. The GramPro 1 is ideal for low volume use and stat procedures. In the near future, QuickSlide will also offer the GramPro 40, designed for mid-sized laboratories. For blood smears, QuickSlide offers the HemaPro automated instrument for Wright-Giemsa staining of blood cells.
“Most all of our customers do Gram stains,” said Hardy. “The stainers are in keeping with our core microbiology business and can be used by all types of labs; clinical, pharmaceutical, food, biotech, etc.”
Daniel Crawford, Hardy Diagnostics’ choice to lead the new division said, “We are impressed with the unique technology of the stainers, especially the patented electric eye to detect differences in smear thickness.” Crawford, a manager at Hardy Diagnostics for the past three years, has a degree in biomedical engineering from California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Business Administration.
Jeff Gibbs, a co-inventor of the QuickSlide instruments, will be retained by Hardy Diagnostics as the Director of Manufacturing in Wichita Falls, Texas. Gibbs has been involved in laboratory instrumentation design since 1974.
Hardy Diagnostics will rebrand the company as QuickSlide, a division of Hardy Diagnostics. All current employees of GG&B Co. have been retained and QuickSlide will continue to operate from the current location in Wichita Falls, Texas.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT HARDY DIAGNOSTICS - Hardy Diagnostics is an FDA licensed and ISO 13485 certified manufacturer of medical devices for microbiological procedures in both clinical and industrial laboratories. Hardy Diagnostics was founded in 1980 in Santa Barbara by Jay Hardy and Robert Shibata after they completed their Medical Technology training in the laboratory at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.
Hardy Diagnostics manufactures over 2,700 different products for the culture and identification of bacteria and fungi. Among its offerings are products used to culture and detect pathogens commonly reported in the news, such as E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria, MRSA, and Influenza. In addition, the company manufactures reagents and media for use by molecular biology researchers. Over 9,000 laboratories throughout the nation rely on Hardy Diagnostics for their supplies.
Today, Hardy Diagnostics employs over 330 people and maintains nine distribution centers throughout the U.S. Manufacturing takes place at its headquarters in Santa Maria, California and at its state of the art facility in Springboro, Ohio. The company also exports products through over 65 foreign distributors. The company’s mission is to “partner with its laboratory customers to prevent and diagnose disease.” For more information, visit www.HardyDiagnostics.com.