BioFire started out as Idaho Technology in 1990, as close friends Kirk Ririe, Dr. Carl Wittwer, Dr. Randy Rasmussen and Richard Andrew came together to build biotechnology machines that were conceptualized by Dr. Wittwer, Kirk’s former university professor. Through a university/industry partnership, Idaho Technology (IT) developed the first instruments engineered to match the speed of biochemical reactions, the Air THermo-Cycler and RapidCycler. Each instrument’s rapid temperature cycling system is based on heat transfer by hot air to samples contained in micro capillary tubes or thin walled microcentrifuge tubes. Heating and cooling the samples with blasts of high velocity air results in nearly instantaneous temperature transactions, ensures temperature uniformity and rapid heat exchange with sample, for completed reactions in minutes instead of hours.
In 1999, Idaho Technology moved to Research Park for better proximity to the University of Utah’s medical students and research assets. In 2012, they changed the corporate name to BioFire Diagnostics, Inc. to more accurately reflect its business strategy and strong momentum in the marketplace. In 2014, BioMérieux acquired BioFire, in hopes to diversify its diagnostic capabilities with a technology that can turn a six-week long diagnostic process into a simplified hour-long test.
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