5 Questions with Miguel Villa, SVP, Industrial Applications, North America, bioMérieux

1. Why did bioMérieux decide to invest in opening a new molecular and genomics center in Philadelphia?

The opening of the new facility, the Molecular and Genomics Innovation Center, is an important milestone in our commitment to providing diagnostic solutions that solve the food safety industry’s toughest challenges in microbiology. Home of both the xPRO™ Program and the Genomics Discovery Center, this facility — in conjunction with our unique Augmented Diagnostics approach — allows us to continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in diagnostic testing to further ensure public health and the quality for the products we consume, which is core to our mission at bioMérieux.

2. How is bioMérieux working to advance molecular diagnostics?

Our company’s legacy of pioneering diagnostics allows bioMérieux to offer the best-in-class food safety diagnostics to help advance the needs of the industry. The xPRO™ Program works in partnership with our food manufacturing customers to investigate their toughest quality challenges while creating custom testing solutions that allows them to address their unique and often highly complex operational challenges such as spoilage and waste reduction. For example, when a production line is held up due to a microbiological event, it can cost a company millions of dollars a day.

3. Why has the use of data and genomics tools become a core capability for the company?

bioMérieux has invested heavily in acquiring deep expertise in genomics, data science, and analytics. This allows us to offer metagenomic services that help our customers go beyond the test result that’s given by traditional methods. This is a core capability at the new site. We can identify the root cause of product spoilage and understand what the genetic characteristics of a contaminant are that can explain its persistence in a factory environment, raw materials, or finished goods. 

4. How can leaders of their own quality programs envision themselves being part of the xPRO™ Program?

The project and process are completely tailored to the individual needs of the quality program, and it’s really about collaboration. Let’s say you discover a persistent spoilage organism or group of spoilage organisms that are inherent to your raw materials or process. Using our xPRO™ methodology, you can not only characterize the culprits but potentially create a diagnostic screening tool to minimize impact on finished product and consumer experience.

5. How does a diagnostics company continue to innovate in today’s marketplace?

With fresh thinking and an ability to always approach problems from a different perspective. I encourage my teams to take ownership of new ideas and initiatives without fear of failure. When you give space for fresh thinking, it allows for rapid ideation, development and validation, which ultimately means a shorter market launch time for clients.