Acquisition expands Cole-Parmer’s portfolio of life sciences tools and reference standards

Chicago, IL and Vernon Hills, IL – GTCR, a leading private equity firm, announced today that its Cole-Parmer (“CP”) portfolio company has acquired ZeptoMetrix Corporation (“ZeptoMetrix”).  ZeptoMetrix is a life sciences developer and manufacturer of quality control standards and verification panels used in molecular diagnostic testing for infectious diseases.

Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Buffalo, NY, ZeptoMetrix’s products, including its patented NATtrol™ family of products, are used for nucleic acid testing within the diagnostic testing industry. These products are used regularly by clinical testing labs to verify that molecular diagnostic instruments are performing and accurately detecting the presence of specific genetic material within a patient sample. The ZeptoMetrix product portfolio is focused on infectious disease, including gastrointestinal, women’s health, hospital acquired infections, and respiratory, including the flu, RSV and Covid, among others.

The acquisition of ZeptoMetrix expands CP’s quality controls and reference standards portfolio and further establishes CP as a leading manufacturer of specialty chemistries and reagents for life sciences research and diagnostic testing. The acquisition represents CP’s second acquisition in the past year and 12^th since 2014.

“The addition of ZeptoMetrix is highly complementary to our existing product portfolio within the life sciences market,” said Bernd Brust, Chief Executive Officer of Cole-Parmer. “The acquisition underscores our dedication to serving our customers with unique, differentiated products that help accelerate their research & development programs and support their diagnostic workflows.”

Dean Mihas, Managing Director at GTCR, added: “Cole-Parmer’s acquisition of ZeptoMetrix represents another great example of GTCR’s Leaders Strategy^TM at work. Bernd and the CP team have completed 12 strategic add-on acquisitions since we carved the business out of Thermo Fisher and built a unique platform within the life sciences sector.”

“The addition of ZeptoMetrix to our global commercial infrastructure enhances our shared ability to continue to support our customers in mission critical applications within the life sciences,” added Jon Salkin, President of Cole-Parmer. “We look forward to continuing to support the ZeptoMetrix customer base and expanding our quality controls and reference standards portfolio via continued investment in organic product development and M&A.”

About GTCR

Founded in 1980, GTCR is a leading private equity firm focused on investing in growth companies in the Healthcare, Financial Services & Technology, Technology, Media & Telecommunications, and Growth Business Services industries.  The Chicago-based firm pioneered The Leaders Strategy™ – finding and partnering with management leaders in core domains to identify, acquire and build market-leading companies through transformational acquisitions and organic growth.  Since its inception, GTCR has invested more than $18 billion in over 200 companies. For more information, please visit www.gtcr.com.

About Cole-Parmer

Founded in 1955, Cole-Parmer® is a leading global manufacturer of proprietary products for fluidics, critical research and process equipment and specialty chemicals for life sciences, environmental sampling and analysis, analytics and essential lab supplies. We are proven experts in the fields of fluid handling, environmental testing, cold chain storage and monitoring, sample preparation & handling and chromatography. Our instruments and consumables have been used extensively in the biopharma research and production, pharmaceutical, life sciences, environmental, and the food and beverage industries for over 65 years. For more information, please visit www.coleparmer.com

About ZeptoMetrix

ZeptoMetrix Corporation is an established industry leader in the design, development, and delivery of innovative, quality solutions to the infectious disease diagnostics market. Founded in 1999, the company’s expertise and abilities in molecular diagnostics, including external quality controls, verification panels, proficiency panels, customized and OEM products/services have set the industry standard for performance and reliability and made ZeptoMetrix the preferred choice for independent 3^rd party quality control materials. ZeptoMetrix’s patented NATtrol^TM process renders highly-purified microorganisms non-infectious while allowing internal nucleic acids to remain intact, thereby serving as an ideal reference material for molecular diagnostic testing applications. Representing a total process control, from DNA extraction through amplification and eventual detection, NATtrol^TM products are ready-to-use, refrigerator stable, and safe for operators to handle. For more information, please visit www.zeptometrix.com