Sartorius AG is an international pharmaceutical and laboratory equipment supplier, covering the segments of Bioprocess Solutions and Lab Products & Services. In September 2021, Sartorius has been admitted to the DAX, Germany's largest (Blue chip) stock market index.[2] As a leading partner to the biopharmaceutical research and industry, Sartorius supports its customers in the development and production of biotech drugs and vaccines - from the initial idea in the laboratory to commercial production. Sartorius conducts its operating business in the two divisions Bioprocess Solutions and Lab Products&Services. The divisions bundle their respective businesses according to the same application areas and customer groups. The divisions share some of the infrastructure and central services.[3]
Universal theodolite made by Florenz Sartorius, c. 1910
History
1870 At the age of 24, Florenz Sartorius founded the "Feinmechanische Werkstatt F. Sartorius" in Göttingen. The short-beam analytical balance that he developed further became internationally known, so that the 3,000th balance was delivered by 1895: the mechanical workshop developed into a medium-sized company.
1906 By acquiring the companies August Becker (Göttingen) and Ludwig Tesdorpf (Stuttgart), Sartorius expanded its portfolio to include microtomes as well as astronomical, geodetic, and physical instruments.
1969 Sartorius tested moon rock collected during the Apollo 11 mission.[4]
Recent history (since 2000)
2000 Sartorius took over B. Braun Biotech International (BBI) from B. Braun Melsungen AG. BBI, the world's leading manufacturer of fermenters (bioreactor) and cell culture systems at the time, was integrated into the Sartorius group as Sartorius Stedim Systems GmbH (formerly Sartorius BBI Systems GmbH ), a subsidiary of Sartorius Stedim Biotech GmbH.[5]
Sartorius AG acquired the remaining shares in Viva Science and is now the sole owner.[6]
2005 Sartorius acquires 100% of the shares of Omnimark Instrument Corporation, Arizona, United States (moisture analyzers).[7]
2007 Sartorius merged its biotechnology division with the French biotech company Stedim S.A. The resulting Sartorius Stedim Biotech (SSB) is the world's leading technology provider for the biopharmaceutical industry. The new company is listed on the Paris stock exchange.[8][9]
Sartorius took over the Toha Plast GmbH, which now operates under the name Sartorius Stedim Plastics.[10]
2008 Through its subgroup, SSB Sartorius acquired the Swiss-based Wave Biotech AG, a leading provider of single-use bioreactors.[11]
2011 Sartorius acquired the liquid handling business of the Finnish laboratory specialists Biohit. Thus, the Group expands its product portfolio in the field of laboratory instruments.[12][13]
2013 A new production building for the injection molding of plastic parts was opened in Göttingen. In the same year, the new Asia sales center of the Sartorius Group was inaugurated in Shanghai, from which all sales and marketing activities for China and for the entire Asia region are controlled.[14][15]
2016 The company acquired two North American flow cytometry companies, IntelliCyt ($90 million)[18] and ViroCyt ($16 million).[19]
In July, the company, through SSB, acquired kSep Systems, which specialized in preparative centrifugation for recombinant proteins, vaccines, and cell therapy products.[20]
In November, the SSB subdivision opened a new bioanalytical and biosafety testing facility in Boston.[21]
2017 The company acquired cell-based assay and instrumentation firm Essen BioScience, from private equity owner SFW Capital Partners, for $320 million.[22]
A co-development agreement between Sartorius' Cellca subsidiary and Synpromics began to test Synpromics' customized synthetic promoters on Cellca's CHO Expression Platform.[17]
Another co-development agreement was inked with Nova Biomedical to develop a system for large-scale testing of diverse cell culture conditions.[23]
2019 The company acquired the Israel cell culture media developer and manufacturer Biological Industries.[24]
2020 The company acquired selected assets of Danaher Corporation, including products for the research and development of cell therapies.[25]
2021The company acquired the German cell culture media manufacturer Xell AG,[26] the German cell and gene therapy raw materials supplier CellGenix GmbH[27] and the German bioanalytic company ALS Automated Lab Solutions GmbH.[28]
