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BioSurplus
BioSurplus: the lab-equipment resale firm that lets biopharma institutions turn idle instruments into recovered capital.
BioSurplus
Founded in 2002 in San Diego, BioSurplus began as an auction-and-resale house for pre-owned laboratory instruments. CEO Preston Fassett and President Jackie Townsend scaled the firm by solving a specific institutional pain point: research labs and biopharma companies routinely retire million-dollar mass spectrometers, HPLCs, and sequencing platforms with significant residual value. The firm operates across five US hubs — San Diego, Boston, Southborough, Bethesda, and Durham — positioning itself within the country's densest life-science clusters. BioSurplus specializes in the acquisition, decommissioning, and resale of surplus lab equipment from academic institutions, biotech firms, and pharmaceutical companies. Their asset classes span analytical chemistry, genomics, proteomics, and cell biology instrumentation. Rather than functioning as a passive broker, the firm performs full asset-management services, including facility clear-outs, on-site removal, and refurbishment. This turnkey model converts depreciated capital equipment into recovered cash for sellers while supplying verified, warranted instruments to emerging biotechs and academic labs that cannot justify new-equipment budgets. The firm has serviced equipment from entities such as Pfizer and Harvard University, per public contract records. The company maintains a physical inventory of refurbished instruments across its warehouses and conducts public online auctions multiple times per year. In addition to its resale operation, BioSurplus offers equipment-appraisal and asset-disposition planning for corporate finance and procurement teams. The firm expanded its presence into the Boston-Cambridge corridor in the mid-2010s, deepening its relationship with the venture-backed biotech ecosystem. In September 2023, BioSurplus conducted a multi-site lab closeout auction for a publicly traded gene-therapy company that included over 600 instruments, per its own communications. BioSurplus sits at the intersection of life-sciences infrastructure and the circular economy. Unlike a traditional venture-funded lab-equipment marketplace, the firm operates an inventory-owning, principal-trading model that carries balance-sheet risk. This structural posture aligns it more closely with industrial asset-recovery firms than with pure software-driven brokerages, giving institutional sellers a single accountable counterparty for large-scale lab divestitures.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
2002
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
San Diego
Corporate office
San Diego, CA, United States
Additional offices
Boston, MA · Southborough, MA · Bethesda, MD · Durham, NC
Principals
Preston S. Fassett
CEO
Jackie Townsend
President
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
How does BioSurplus acquire its inventory?
BioSurplus acquires inventory through direct purchases from pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms, and academic institutions that are downsizing, relocating, or decommissioning labs. The firm also handles facility closeouts, where it removes and purchases entire labs' worth of equipment. Sellers receive immediate payment rather than waiting for consignment sales.
Does BioSurplus operate on a consignment or principal-trading model?
It operates primarily on a principal-trading model. BioSurplus purchases equipment outright, takes physical possession, refurbishes it, and resells it from its own inventory. This gives institutional sellers a single transaction and immediate liquidity, rather than splitting proceeds on consignment.
What types of lab equipment does BioSurplus handle?
The firm handles analytical chemistry instruments — HPLC systems, mass spectrometers, and chromatography equipment — as well as genomics tools, cell biology platforms, and general lab infrastructure. It does not deal in consumables, reagents, or most clinical patient-care devices.
How is BioSurplus different from an online lab-equipment marketplace?
BioSurplus takes ownership of equipment and sells it as a principal, while most online marketplaces match buyers and sellers without holding inventory. The firm also provides on-site decommissioning, facility clear-outs, and appraisals, making it a full-service asset-recovery partner rather than a listing platform.
Which regions does BioSurplus serve?
BioSurplus has operations in San Diego, the Boston-Cambridge corridor, the Research Triangle in North Carolina, and the Maryland biotech hub around Bethesda. These locations place its warehouses and field teams within driving distance of the largest US life-science clusters.
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