Scott Tourville
CEO and co-owner
Professional
In 1998, I acquired ZEUS Scientific with my brother John Tourville and have been in my current position for 15 years. My prior experience includes VP of Finance and Controller at ZEUS. My focus as CEO has been transforming ZEUS into an industry-leading, global in vitro diagnostic company.
Education
BA in Accounting from Lycoming College
Personal
I serve on the board of Cooperative Housing Corporation, a local non-profit that builds and provides supportive housing for low-income senior citizens. I also chair their fundraising committee. I enjoy golf, cooking, collecting wine, and spending time with my family.
If you were explaining ZEUS Scientific to someone who was not familiar with the company, how would you characterize its primary areas of expertise? ZEUS Scientific is committed to developing, manufacturing and marketing high quality in vitro diagnostic assay systems to aid in the rapid and accurate diagnosis of autoimmune and infectious diseases around the world.
What market or markets does ZEUS Scientific primarily serve? Products are marketed and distributed worldwide through a network of distribution partners. Our primary focus is the clinical diagnostics market for infectious and autoimmune diseases, and in particular hospitals and reference laboratories.
What particular benefits do the ZEUS ELISA and ZEUS IFA products provide clinical labs? What is the value to the company of offering test kits that can be run manually, semi-automatically, or automatically? Our product portfolio has been created with the end user in mind by developing solutions which maximize run efficiency and improve workflow in the lab. The majority of ZEUS test systems utilize universal procedures and share several common reagents so that users can be confident that if they can perform one of our assays, they can run the majority with no further training required. All ELISA test kits can be run manually and are easily adapted to run with a number of open automated pipetting systems. This ensures that users from lower throughput labs, which run a few samples at a time, to busy reference labs, which require advanced laboratory automation, are able to use our ELISA test systems.
People in the clinical laboratory industry are becoming increasingly aware of the AtheNA Multi-Lyte® Test System. On what kind of technology is it based, and how does it enhance diagnostic testing? The AtheNA Multi-Lyte is a multiplexed, fluorescent, bead-based system designed to simultaneously perform multiple assays from a single sample. It is based on the Luminex xMAP® technology. The AtheNA Multi-Lyte represents a breakthrough in simultaneous, single-well, multiple analyte testing. The system offers a streamlined and simple alternative to IFA and ELISA test systems that provides comparable clinical sensitivity and specificity in a labor-saving format. ZEUS offers a broad offering of multiplex test panels for both infectious and autoimmune diseases on this innovative platform.
Last year ZEUS Scientific received clearance from the FDA to market the ZEUS ELISA™ Borrelia VIsE-1/pepC10 IgG/IgM Test System. What should readers know about this Lyme disease assay? The new ZEUS Borrelia ELISA test system utilizes a dual combination of recombinant VlsE-1 and synthetic pepC10 antigens and simultaneously detects IgG and IgM antibodies in patient sera. This test provides significantly greater clinical sensitivity and specificity compared with systems which only detect antibody responses to a single antigen. This means fewer costly Western Blots are required, with fewer false positives, resulting in an overall cost savings for the healthcare system.
How have ZEUS Scientific’s products and solutions evolved to meet changing customer needs? Can you give one or more specific examples? The Lyme ELISA system is a good example of how ZEUS is continuously improving its products and introducing additional systems to ensure that we provide our customers with products that will give them accurate and reliable results. We have also re-introduced our IFA test system portfolio to the market with components that can be stored at one unified temperature, and incorporated liquid ready-to-use reagents, which will significantly improve the ease of use for our customers.
What are some directions that the company may be taking in the near future in any or all of its core areas of expertise? ZEUS Scientific has recently entered into licensing agreements that will enable us to expand into the development and commercialization of products utilizing ELISA and ZEUS’ multiplex technology platforms for the diagnostics of cancer, cardiovascular, and other diseases, using novel biomarkers that have strong data supporting their clinical utility. We have also partnered with other leading companies in the clinical diagnostic marketplace to provide complete diagnostic solutions: reagents, instrumentation, and automation. ZEUS Scientific remains committed to all of its product lines and is one of the few companies in the diagnostic market that continues to actively develop and obtain regulatory approvals for these types of in vitro diagnostic test systems.
