Invisible Sentinel Rapid Assay Goes Global with Wine Deal

Invisible Sentinel has signed its first product distribution deal covering the use of its technology outside the United States.

Enartis Vinquiry of Trecate, Italy, a global provider of specialty winemaking products and services, reached an non-exclusive agreement with the Philadelphia life sciences company agreed to distribute Invisible Sentinel’s Veriflow Brett assay.

The assay is used to test wine for the presence of brettanomyces, a yeast that is known the cause spoilage. The microbe produces compounds that, in excess, can foul the taste of wine and give it a “barn-yardy” odor, according to Invisible Sentinel, which specializes in developing rapid molecular diagnostic test kits for use in the food and beverage industry.

Earlier this month, the company formed a partnership with Victory Brewing Co. of Downingtown, Pa., to develop a test to detect a bacteria that can spoil beer.

Enartis, will distribute Veriflow Brett to winemakers in California and other global markets for their in-winery use in quality-assurance testing. The assay detects and measures levels of brettanomyces in wine.

In addition, Enartis’ Windsor, the California-based U.S. subsidiary of Enartis Vinquiry, has adopted Veriflow Brett for use in its Central Coast laboratories — which provide testing services to winemakers in the region.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Invisible Sentinel Inc. developed the test for the wine-spoiling microbe in a partnership forged in January with Jackson Family Wines, a family-­owned winery in California’s Sonoma County.