Bioscience firm taps PB Arsenal for site

Vivione Biosciences, a Little Rock-based manufacturer of a diagnostic system for identifying microorganisms, said Tuesday that it will open a facility at the Pine Bluff Arsenal.

Vivione will hire 12 technology workers at the site.

The firm’s diagnostic technology has several applications, ranging from food safety to clinical diagnostics, the firm said in a prepared statement.

Vivione chose the location because it fit the company’s growth plans and because of incentives offered by Arkansas and Jefferson County, Kevin Kuykendall, Vivione’s chief executive officer, said in the statement.

The technology was developed with the assistance of the National Center for Toxicological Research near Pine Bluff, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and the University of Arkansas Center for Food Safety in Fayetteville.