MEDICAL

Gentre Laboratories, a Laguna Hills developer and manufacturer of medical research and nutritional and hygiene products, said it has acquired a 5.6% interest in its next-door neighbor, OmniSource.

It is a tit-for-tat move, since OmniSource acquired a 7.3% stake in Gentre Laboratories last August by buying 1 million shares in the company for $375,000.

Gentre said the acquisition of 1 million shares of OmniSource for an undisclosed price was intended partly as a promising investment and partly to “strengthen the relationship” between the two companies.

Marcus Ryan, president of OmniSource, said his company manufactures and distributes electronic and health products, but he hopes to turn it exclusively into a marketing firm. As a step in that direction, he said, OmniSource has begun to market products that Gentre manufactures.

Ryan said he is “very excited” about plans for OmniSource to market a new line of consumer health products that Gentre intends to introduce internationally later this year.

Jonathan Sterns, president of Gentre Laboratories, said in a prepared statement that Gentre plans to “enter into a formal agreement with OmniSource which would provide Gentre Laboratories with the level of marketing and sales support normally associated with larger companies” and help Gentre “avoid certain of the pitfalls associated with new product introduction.”

Ryan nonetheless said that Gentre’s acquisition of OmniSource stock in a private party stock purchase came as a surprise to him and that he was “flattered, to a degree” by the gesture. He said the companies have no plans to merge.