A pair of HudsonAlpha companies are combining to speed the discovery of new antibiotics.

CFD Research Corp. has acquired the drug discovery division of iXpressGenes; both are associate companies at Huntsville-based HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology.

As part of the acquisition, CFDRC obtained iXG’s high-throughput antimicrobial discovery platform called EMAD (Extremophilic Microbiome Antimicrobial Discovery) and all key personnel associated with the division including the director, AJ Singhal.

“We are excited about integrating the EMAD platform with CFDRC’s existing biomedical technologies to accelerate the discovery of new antibiotics against biowarfare agents and drug-resistant bacteria,” said CFDRC President/CEO Sameer Singhal. “The EMAD platform will allow efficient discoveries … and lead to the development of new antibacterial natural products.”