DURHAM — A small blood analyzer that can be used in operating rooms, trauma centers and intensive care units to identify the cause of bleeding may soon mean a big jump in employment for one Triangle area company.

HemoSonics — a Charlottesville, VA-based business with research and development and manufacturing operations at two locations in Durham — has received de novo marketing authorization for its Quantra Hemostasis platform.  The initial U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval clears the product for use during cardiac and major orthopedic surgeries.

Quantra already is sold in Europe, and its U..S approval will make it available to nearly 70 percent of the global market, according to Timothy Fischer, HemoSonics’ president and CEO. The company will start shipping the product to U.S. customers within weeks.

To accommodate market growth, HemoSonics is planning a $10 million expansion that will quadruple its headcount over the next few years. The company wants to consolidate its operations  in a 45,000-square-foot facility in Research Triangle Park, though Fischer said a lease has no been signed yet.

The new site will likely house all manufacturing, general administration and financial operations. R&D could potentially move there from its downtown Durham location as well. The company expects to grow from 50 to 200 employees over the next several years, with present headcount doubling in 2019, according to Fischer.

HemoSonics’ Quantra blood analyzer. — HemoSonics photo.

Quantra uses ultrasound technology to run a panel of viscoelastic blood coagulation tests that can determine how well blood is clotting. Results are provided in 15 minutes or less, which allows physicians to make more-informed treatment decisions.

“Critical bleeding occurs frequently in cardiac and major orthopedic surgeries,” Fisher pointed out. “The Quantra QPlus System revolutionizes point-of-care management by delivering accurate and novel results in a fraction of the time required previously…Faster results can mean better management of critical bleeding, more cost-effective treatment and, ultimately, better outcomes for patients.”

HemoSonics, a University of Virginia spinout, was launched in 2010. France’s Stago Group acquired the company in 2017. Fischer joined HemoSonics in 2014. Before that he was chief operating officer of Raleigh-based LipoScience, which LabCorp purchased in late 2014.