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MANSFIELD -- A biotech firm in the Cabot Business Park has revolutionized the treatment of new transplant patients who are fighting infections.

Primera Biosystems is so innovative that, this spring, the Red Herring national technology magazine named it among the top 100 private North American firms driving the future of technology.

Primera, located at 171 Forbes Blvd., makes assays, or tests, that help doctors determine how to treat patients battling infections after receiving transplants, when drugs have suppressed their immune systems, according to Kazumi Shiosaki, president and chief executive officer of Primera.

These viruses occur naturally in the body but are fought off by the immune system, she said.

Primera's technology allows doctors to test the patient for the amount of all natural viruses simultaneously -- avoiding individual tests, she said. Doctors then can start anti-viral therapy, or reduce the immune system suppressants to allow the patient to fight the virus naturally, Shiosaki said.

`` Knowing that it exists doesn't always work, because people have these viruses in them,'' she said.

Red Herring magazine is impressed by the innovation.

`` You're looking at a lab at a company that can do gene expression analysis very quickly. Lots of companies are going to be using this technology,'' venture correspondent Sean Wolfe said.

MPM Capital joined Primera's investor group last July, which also is impressive, Wolfe said.

MPM has an excellent reputation, he said.

The company is among the largest investment management firms dedicated to the life sciences, according to Primera's Web site.

Shiosaki sees Red Herring's honor helping Primera attract more investors.

`` It creates a nice little buzz,'' she said. `` Certainly it will put us on the map of potential investors.''

Primera spun out from Sention, a Providence-based pharmaceutical development company, in December 2004. Primera moved to Mansfield earlier this year.

The company has 14 employees, mostly engineers and molecular biologists and software engineers, Shiosaki said.