History

Laboratorio Biologico de Tandil was founded in 1983, under the motto “science and experience at the service of animal health,” by the veterinary doctors Enrique Lucchesi and Pedro Soto, both specialized in venereal diseases and bovine reproduction. 

Since its foundation, the laboratory has gradually grown into a biotechnology company based on three main lines: diagnosis, production of reagents and biological products, and research and development (R&D). As a result of this strategic plan, the firm achieved technological independence in the field of brucellosis with Brucella antigens highly competitive with those of leading national and multinational companies based in Argentina.

The laboratory has received financial support from the Argentine Technological Fund of the National Agency for the Promotion of Science, Technology, and Innovation. Due to this support, the laboratory has been able to speed up research and also incorporate equipment and instruments. LBT developed the first Argentine vaccine against venereal bovine trichomonosis (VBT), which was registered in SENASA in 2004.

The development of this vaccine represented not only a major technological breakthrough but also an invaluable aid for both farmers and veterinarians to control this disease and therefore increase breeding.

As a services company, particular emphasis has been placed on the diagnosis of bovine reproduction diseases using methods developed in the laboratory. In the field of genetics, within a program aimed at controlling diseases, the laboratory has helped to select, with the aid of molecular markers, animals that are resistant to the bovine leucosis virus. This has contributed to doctoral thesis.

In the 1990s the laboratory took particular interest in fluorescence polarization technology and detected in the market a lack of a technologically advanced kit as well as of polarimeters at affordable prices. The laboratory worked actively so that this technology could get national and international promotion through different media. In February 2009 the laboratory achieved a major milestone in the diagnosis of brucellosis in Argentina when it became the first national laboratory to produce in its own plant the subcellular antigen for fluorescence polarization technology. Argentina was therefore one of the first countries to produce this antigen.

As part of its involvement in R&D, the laboratory has made agreements with several institutions, among which is Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires.

LBT has always contributed to the veterinarians’ professional practice and development by organizing technical meetings, updating and extension courses in different places in Argentina and other countries of Mercosur. It has also collaborated in the elaboration of animal health regulations and the organization of national and international biotechnology fairs.


The laboratory is at present extending and remodeling its facilities to become a Biosafety Level 3 laboratory. This, added to the continuous professional development and commitment of the staff, is aimed at consolidating the position of the laboratory in the national and international market.