Biopool International, a supplier of human diagnostic tests based in Ventura, CA, has completed the acquisition of Xtrana Inc. (Denver), a developer of nucleic acid-based technologies.

Before the final acquisition stages, Xtrana received a Small Business Innovation Research Phase 1 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to create a test to detect Salmonella contamination in food.

News of the funding in late June came on the heels of Xtrana receiving a U.S. patent for the test technology, number 5,989,813, “Detection of Amplified Nucleic Acid Sequences Using Bifunctional Haptenization and Dyed Microparticles.”

Since incorporation, Xtrana has received about $3.1 million in funding from the federal government and $1.2 million from the private equity sales.—Mark A. DeSorbo