RQMICRO AG

rqmicro AG, established in 2013 and based in Schlieren, Switzerland, develops and markets proprietary reagents and instruments for microbial testing in water and food. Its lab-on-a-chip technology, combined with the rqmicro CellStream instrument, quantifies bacterial pathogens such as Legionella in under two hours. The method uses immunomagnetic separation and microfluidics, achieving 10 to 40 times higher sensitivity than standard cultivation, a recovery rate above 80%, and sample purity over 95%. It detects viable but non-culturable cells and distinguishes viable from dead cells, preserving cell integrity for downstream flow cytometry, agar culture, or PCR. Available kits target Legionella pneumophila SG1, SG1-15, and SG1-14; kits for Legionella spp., Giardia spp., Cryptosporidium spp., Salmonella, and Pseudomonas are in development.