Clever Culture Systems gets a new chairperson

The co-founder and CEO of laboratory automation company LBT Innovations (ASX:LBT), Lusia Guthrie, has been appointed chair of Clever Culture Systems (CCS) for a two-year period from June 2016.

The news comes one month after Guthrie announced her retirement from LBT (commencing on 8 August), though she will continue with the company in a consulting role to assist with transitional arrangements for new CEO Brent Barnes.

Based in Zurich, CCS is a 50:50 joint venture company set up by LBT in 2013 in conjunction with laboratory instrument maker Hettich. The company’s current focus is bringing to market LBT’s Automated Plate Assessment System (APAS) for culture-plate screening in conjunction with Hettich’s automation.

“After many years of close involvement with the development of APAS and other technologies at LBT, I now look forward to working more closely with the Hettich team as we move closer towards commercialisation and realising the potential worldwide of our joint venture,” said Guthrie. She will replace Klaus-Gunter Eberle, who will remain as a director on the CCS board.

LBT is working closely with Hettich’s engineers to develop and bring to market laboratory equipment integrated with APAS. The first of these instruments, called APAS Independence, is an automated culture plate reader and sorter that integrates APAS with high-speed robotic plate-handling equipment. It was unveiled at the 26th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in April and is expected to be on the market in early 2017.

LBT Innovations (ASX:LBT) shares were trading 6.25% higher at $0.17 as of around 3 pm on Friday.