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IBT Laboratories Names Maureen Loftus President and Chief Operating Officer

LENEXA, Kansas, July 1 /PRNewswire/ -- IBT Laboratories, a leading global clinical-diagnostics and biomedical-research laboratory specializing in immunology and allergy assays, announced that Maureen Loftus has joined the company as president and chief operating officer. According to IBT's founder and Chief Executive Officer, John F. (Jack) Halsey, Ph.D., Ms. Loftus' business leadership skills and experience, garnered from more than a dozen years as a senior executive in the biotechnology and financial-services industries, will be invaluable to the rapidly growing company.

"Doctors, commercial reference labs, and pharma companies send their samples to us from around the world for testing because of our unique expertise in allergy and immunology. We have a scientific team dedicated full time to new assay development so we can offer customers the latest, most-comprehensive range of molecular and cellular immunology assays available," said Dr. Halsey. "Over the past several years, IBT has enjoyed double-digit growth in all segments of the business. Unlike many reference labs that perform testing exclusively for either clinical diagnostics or pharmaceutical customers, we do both, and each part of the business supports and informs the other. I am delighted that Maureen has joined us. With day-to-day operations and implementation of our ambitious growth strategy in her capable hands, I will be able to devote my time to expanding our research and testing services and developing strategic partnerships to further the scientific mission of the company."

Previously, Ms. Loftus served in senior leadership positions with companies across a variety of industries, most recently as president of The Bode Technology Group, Inc, one of the nation's leading providers of forensic DNA analysis. Prior to that, Ms. Loftus was chief operating officer of Identico Systems, a pioneer in biometric-enabled identity-verification systems. In addition, she has more than 10 years experience as a management consultant to Fortune 500 companies on strategic, operational, and organizational issues. Ms. Loftus earned her undergraduate degree in business administration at Washington University's John M. Olin School of Business in St. Louis, and holds a master's degree in management from Kellogg Graduate School of Business at Northwestern University.

"This is an exciting time for IBT Labs, and I am thrilled to be part of it," said Ms. Loftus. "The immunology and allergy arena is becoming an increasingly important niche market for testing and research, particularly with the broader development of protein-based therapeutics. These drugs work by triggering the body's immune system. IBT's assays can be used to determine the subset of the population that will benefit from the therapeutic. Equally important -- our assays can identify whether a person is likely to have a potentially fatal allergic response -- before the doctor prescribes the drug. The FDA now requires immunotoxicology testing for all drug development. IBT's expertise in immunology and allergy, and its strong track record of new assay development aligns it strategically with the growing demands -- from biomarker and drug-development research to clinical trials and diagnostic testing."

Commenting on Ms. Loftus' appointment, IBT Lab's Executive Chairman, Laurence McCarthy, Ph.D., said "Maureen is an experienced leader and has managed high-growth organizations over the last 12 years. Her leadership will be essential as the company looks to capitalize on growing demand for its diagnostic-testing services, assay development, and outsourced clinical-trial testing."

About IBT Laboratories

A clinical diagnostic and research laboratory specializing in immunology and allergy testing, IBT tests patient samples for physicians, hospitals, and commercial reference labs from around the globe. IBT also provides biomarker and immunotoxicology testing services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and life-science researchers worldwide. Founded in 1983, IBT is privately held and centrally located inLenexa, Kansas, a suburb ofKansas City. The company's state-of-the-art laboratory features advanced instrumentation for flow cytometry, ELISPOT, microarray testing, ImmunoCAP allergy, PCR, SNP, cell culture, and T cell function testing. For information, please visit www.ibtlabs.com, or call 1.800.637.0370 (inside the U.S.) or + 1.913.492.2224.

    Media contact
    Caroline Grossman
    781-771-5579
    Caroline.grossman@gmail.com

SOURCE IBT Laboratories

Tags: Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology, Health, kansas

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IBT Laboratories Names Maureen Loftus President and Chief Operating Officer