Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is an American life science and clinical research company. It is a global supplier of analytical instruments, clinical development solutions, specialty diagnostics, laboratory, pharmaceutical and biotechnology services. Based in

Waltham, Massachusetts Waltham ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, and was an early center for the labor movement as well as a major contributor to the Technological and industrial history of the United States, American Industrial Revoluti ...

, Thermo Fisher was formed through the

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

Thermo Electron Thermo Electron Corporation (NYSE: TMO) was a major provider of analytical instruments and services for a variety of domains. It was co-founded in 1956 by George N. Hatsopoulos, an MIT PhD in mechanical engineering, and Peter M. Nomikos, a Harv ...

and

Fisher Scientific Fisher Scientific International, Inc. (NYSE: FSH) was a laboratory supply and biotechnology company that provided products and services to the global scientific research and clinical laboratory markets until its merger with Thermo Electron in 20 ...

in 2006. Thermo Fisher Scientific has acquired other reagent, consumable, instrumentation, and service providers, including Life Technologies Corporation (2013),

Alfa Aesar Alfa Aesar was a supplier of reagents and materials for use in research and development, and analysis. The company had facilities in a variety of countries and manufactured many of the chemicals they sold. The company was bought by Thermo Fishe ...

(2015),

Affymetrix Affymetrix is now Applied Biosystems, a brand of DNA microarray products sold by Thermo Fisher Scientific that originated with an American biotechnology research and development and manufacturing company of the same name. The Santa Clara, Calif ...

(2016),

FEI Company FEI Company (Field Electron and Ion Company) was an American company that designed, manufactured, and supported microscope technology. Headquartered in Hillsboro, Oregon, FEI had over 2,800 employees and sales and service operations in more than ...

(2016), BD Advanced Bioprocessing (2018), and PPD (2021). , the company had a market capitalization of $202 billion. It ranked 97th on the ''Fortune'' 500 list based on its 2022 annual revenue of US$44.92 billion.

History

Predecessors and merger

was co-founded in 1956 by George N. Hatsopoulos and Peter M Nomikos. Hatsopoulos received a PhD from

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

and Nomikos was a

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

graduate. The company focused on providing analytical and laboratory products, and had revenues of over $2 billion in 2004.

was founded in 1902 by Chester G. Fisher from

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. It focused on providing laboratory equipment, chemicals, supplies and services used in healthcare, scientific research, safety, and education. On May 8, 2006, Thermo Electron and Fisher Scientific announced that they would

merge Merge, merging, or merger may refer to: Concepts * Merge (traffic), the reduction of the number of lanes on a road * Merge (linguistics), a basic syntactic operation in generative syntax in the Minimalist Program * Merger (politics), the comb ...

in a tax-free, stock-for-stock exchange; the merged company was named Thermo Fisher Scientific, and had about 30,000 employees, and reported US$9 billion in combined revenue. On November 9, 2006, the companies announced that the merger had been completed.Merger of Thermo Electron and Fisher Scientific Completed, Forming Thermo Fisher Scientific
, press release, November 9, 2006 However, the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It ...

ruled that this acquisition was anti-competitive regarding

centrifugal evaporator A centrifugal evaporator is a device used in chemical and biochemical laboratories for the efficient and gentle evaporation of solvents from many samples at the same time, and samples contained in microtitre plates. If only one sample required eva ...

s, requiring Fisher to divest Genevac. In April 2007, Genevac was sold to Riverlake Partners LLC and the merger closed with FTC approval. The company's products are sold under the brand names of Thermo Scientific, Fisher Scientific, and several other recognized brand names (e.g. Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen,

Patheon Patheon is a service brand within Thermo Fisher Scientific's brand portfolio. Contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) services offered under the Patheon brand include small molecule API, biologics, viral vectors, cGMP plasmids, ...

, PPD, and Nalgene). According to company figures, as of 2007, 46% of its sales were in

life sciences This list of life sciences comprises the branches of science that involve the scientific study of life – such as microorganisms, plants, and animals including human beings. This science is one of the two major branches of natural science, ...

, 20% in

healthcare Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

, and 34% in industrial/environmental and safety.

Acquisition history

In 1990, Thermo Fisher Scientific (then known as Thermo Instrument Systems) acquired mass spectrometer manufacturer Finnigan Instrument Corporation. In 2003, the company (then Fisher Scientific International) acquired Perbio Science, a transaction that included brands such as Pierce Biotechnology, HyClone and Endogen. In April 2006, BioImage was acquired by Thermo Fisher Scientific. The merger was complete in November 2006, and technology transfer to a US site was completed during 2007 and 2008. BioImage was established in 1993 as a drug discovery research unit led by Ole Thastrup within

Novo Nordisk Novo Nordisk A/S is a Danish multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Bagsværd, with production facilities in nine countries and affiliates or offices in five. Novo Nordisk is controlled by majority shareholder Novo Holdings A/S ...

, from which it spun out of in 1999. It had specialized in developing and selling proprietary

bioassay A bioassay is an analytical method to determine the potency or effect of a substance by its effect on animal testing, living animals or plants (''in vivo''), or on living cells or tissues (''in vitro''). A bioassay can be either quantal or quantit ...

s to

biopharmaceutical A biopharmaceutical, also known as a biological medical product, or biologic, is any pharmaceutical drug product manufactured in, extracted from, or semisynthesized from biological sources. Different from totally synthesized pharmaceuticals, t ...

companies and research institutions. It made broad

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

s covering Enhanced GFP (EGFP), GFP-based biosensors and any genetically encoded protein fusion to a

luminophore In chemistry, a luminophore (sometimes shortened to lumophore) is an atom or functional group in a chemical compound that is responsible for its luminescent properties. Luminophores can be either organic or inorganic. Luminophores can be further ...

, with subsequent monitoring of the

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

's translocation within a

cell Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life * Cellphone, a phone connected to a cellular network * Clandestine cell, a penetration-resistant form of a secret or outlawed organization * Electrochemical cell, a de ...

as the primary readout for

drug discovery In the fields of medicine, biotechnology, and pharmacology, drug discovery is the process by which new candidate medications are discovered. Historically, drugs were discovered by identifying the active ingredient from traditional remedies or ...

assays. In December 2010, Thermo Fisher Scientific announced its acquisition of Dionex for $2.1 billion. In May 2011, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. bought Phadia to expand into the testing of allergies and

autoimmune In immunology, autoimmunity is the system of immune responses of an organism against its own healthy cells, tissues and other normal body constituents. Any disease resulting from this type of immune response is termed an " autoimmune disease" ...

diseases for €2.47 billion ($3.5 billion) in cash. In April 2013, after a competitive bidding with

Hoffmann-La Roche F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, commonly known as Roche (), is a Swiss multinational holding healthcare company that operates worldwide under two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Its holding company, Roche Holding AG, has shares listed on ...

, Thermo Fisher acquired Life Technologies Corporation for

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

13.6 billion in a deal, adding further service lines related to advanced DNA sequencing and genetic testing. Life Technologies was originally formed in 2008 through a $6.7B merger of

Invitrogen Invitrogen is one of several brands under the Thermo Fisher Scientific corporation. The product line includes various subbrands of biotechnology products, such as machines and consumables for polymerase chain reaction, reverse transcription, ...

, a cell therapy, and

Applied Biosystems Applied Biosystems is one of various brands under the Life Technologies brand of Thermo Fisher Scientific corporation. The brand is focused on integrated systems for genetic analysis, which include computerized machines and the consumables used ...

. The company also acquired GIBCO (Grand Island Biological Company) as part of the Life Technologies acquisition. In February 2015, the company announced it would acquire Advanced Scientifics for $300 million in a cash-deal. ASI designs manufactures, and delivers technologies used in bioprocessing. In June 2015, the company announced its intention to acquire Alfa Aesar, a global manufacturer of research chemicals for $405 million from

Johnson Matthey Johnson Matthey plc is a British multinational speciality chemicals and sustainable technologies company headquartered in London, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History Early year ...

, and the acquisition was completed at the end of September In January 2016, the company announced it would acquire

for $1.3 billion. On May 27, 2016, the company announced it would acquire

for $4.2 billion, a manufacturer of

electron microscope An electron microscope is a microscope that uses a beam of electrons as a source of illumination. It uses electron optics that are analogous to the glass lenses of an optical light microscope to control the electron beam, for instance focusing it ...

s. This acquisition is anticipated to close in early 2017 and will contribute to the growth of Thermo's Analytical Instruments business group. In November the company announced it would acquire MTI-GlobalStem, a previously privately held company that develops reagents for cell transfection, neurobiology and stem cell research. In February 2017, the company acquired Finesse Solutions, Inc., developer of scalable control automation systems and software for bioproduction after receiving early termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. The transaction was completed a day later. In March, the company announced it would acquire Core Informatics, provider of cloud-based platforms supporting scientific data management. In August, the company acquired Patheon, a contract development and manufacturing organization serving the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors, for approximately $7.2 billion. As of 2017, the company had revenues of $20.9 billion, and was a

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...

company. In September 2018, Thermo Fisher Scientific announced it had signed a definitive agreement with Becton, Dickinson and Company (BDX) to acquire their Advanced Bioprocessing business. This BD business had annualized revenue of approximately $100 million; as of October 16, 2018, it had been integrated into Thermo Fisher's Life Sciences Solutions Segment. In March 2019, Thermo Fisher Scientific announced its entry into the

gene therapy Gene therapy is Health technology, medical technology that aims to produce a therapeutic effect through the manipulation of gene expression or through altering the biological properties of living cells. The first attempt at modifying human DNA ...

manufacturing market with a $1.7 billion cash acquisition for Brammer Bio. In May 2019, Thermo Fisher Scientific partnered with MMJ International Holdings to manufacture drug products developed by MMJ for the treatment of

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

and

Huntington's disease Huntington's disease (HD), also known as Huntington's chorea, is an incurable neurodegenerative disease that is mostly Genetic disorder#Autosomal dominant, inherited. It typically presents as a triad of progressive psychiatric, cognitive, and ...

. In June, the business announced it would acquire mass spectrometry software provider, HighChem. In March 2020, Thermo Fisher Scientific received emergency use authorization from the FDA for a test for

SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the respiratory illness responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had the Novel coronavirus, provisional nam ...

to help mitigate the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Thermo Fisher also partnered with its biopharma customers, including Pfizer and Moderna, to support the development and production of new mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines. In March 2020, Thermo Fisher Scientific agreed to purchase

Qiagen QIAGEN N.V. is a German-founded multinational provider of sample and assay technologies for molecular diagnostics, applied testing, academic research, and pharmaceutical research. The company operates in more than 35 offices in over 25 countries ...

, a molecular diagnostics company, for $10.1 billion. In July, the offer for Qiagen was raised from €39 to €43 per share (€11.3 billion in total). On August 13, the company announced that its offer to acquire all of the ordinary share had lapsed, and it terminated the acquisition agreement. In August 2020, Thermo Fisher Scientific opened its new Lenexa facility aimed at boosting the production and manufacturing of COVID-19 testing supplies. In December the business announced it would acquire Phitonex, Inc. In January 2021, Thermo Fisher Scientific announced it had acquired Belgium-based viral vector manufacturer, Henogen SA, from Groupe Novasep SAS for €725 million in cash and point-of-care molecular diagnostics provider Mesa Biotech, Inc. for up to $550 million. In April 2021, Thermo Fisher Scientific announced the acquisition of PPD, Inc., a contract research organization, for a total cash purchase price of $17.4 billion-plus the assumption of approximately $3.5 billion of net debt. PPD generated $4.7 billion in revenue during FY 2020, and this transaction, which values their company at approximately $20.9 billion. In November, the business announced it would acquire PharmaFluidics and its μPAC range of micro-chip-based chromatography products. In January 2022, Thermo Fisher Scientific acquired PeproTech, a developer and manufacturer of recombinant proteins, for $1.85 billion. PeproTech became part of Thermo Fisher’s biosciences business and was integrated into the Life Sciences Solutions Segment. In October 2022, the company agreed to buy British diagnostics firm, The Binding Site Group, in an all-cash deal for US$2.6billion from

Nordic Capital Nordic Capital is a global private equity firm focused on leveraged buyouts of established companies in Northern Europe and North America. Founded in 1989, the firm manages about $50 billion of capital, with offices in New York, London, Stockh ...

. The acquisition completed in January 2023. In July 2023, the business announced it would acquire CorEvitas, LLC from Audax Private Equity for more than $900 million in cash. In August 2023, it was announced Thermo Fisher had completed the acquisition for $912.5 million (in cash). In October 2023, Thermo Fisher Scientific acquired Olink Holding for $3.1 billion. *Thermo Fisher Scientific (formed in 2006 by the merger of Thermo Electron and Fisher Scientific) **Thermo Fisher Scientific ***

****Scientific Materials Co. (Est 1902) ****Scientific Supplies, Ltd (Acq 1925) ****Eimer & Amend (Acq 1940) ****E. Machlett & Sons (Acq 1957) ****Janssen Chimica ****

Eastman Kodak Company The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...

(Organic Chemicals division) ****Apogent Technologies Inc. (Acq 2004) ****Athena Diagnostics (Acq 2006) ***

****Kendro Laboratory Products (Acq 2005) ****Rupprecht and Patashnick Co., Inc. (Acq 2005) ****NITON LLC (Acq 2005) ****InnaPhase Corporation (Acq 2004) ****US Counseling Services, Inc. (Acq 2004) ****Jouan SA (Acq 2004) ****Laboratory Management Systems, Inc. (Acq 2003) ** Phadia (Acq 2011) **

Life Technologies Life Technologies Corporation was a biotech company founded in November 2008 through a US $6.7 billion merger of Invitrogen Corporation and Applied Biosystems Inc. The joint sales of the combined companies were about $3.5 billion; they had abou ...

(Acq 2013) *** Invitrogen Corporation (Merged 2008) ****NOVEX ****Research Genetics, Inc (Acq 1999) ****Ethrog Biotechnology ****Molecular Probes ****Dynal ****Panvera ****InforMax ****BioSource ****CellzDirect ****Zymed ****Caltag Laboratories ***

(Merged 2008) **Advanced Scientifics (Acq 2015) **

(Acq 2015) **

(Acq 2016) ***Genetic MicroSystems (Acq 1999) ***Neomorphic (Acq 2000) ***ParAllele Bioscience *** USB Corporation (Acq 2008) ***Panomics (Acq 2008) ***True Materials (Acq 2000) ***eBioscience (Acq 2012) **Compendia Bioscience (Acq 2012) **FEI Company (Acq 2016) ***FEI Company (Merged 1997) ****Field Electron and Ion Co. (Est 1971) **** Philips Electron Optics ***Micrion (Acq 1999) **MTI-GlobalStem (Acq 2016) **Finesse Solutions, Inc. (Acq 2017) **Core Informatics (Acq 2017) **

(Acq 2017) ***Agere Pharmaceuticals (Acq 2015) ***Gallus Pharmaceuticals (Acq 2014) *** Royal DSM NV (Pharmaceutical div, merged 2014) ***MOVA (Acq 2004) ***Banner Pharmacaps (Acq 2013) **Brammer Bio (Acq 2019) **Phitonex, Inc. (Acq 2020) **Henogen S.A. (Acq 2021) **Mesa Biotech, Inc. (Acq 2021) ** PPD, Inc. (Acq 2021) ***Acurian (Acq 2013) ***Evidera (Acq 2016) ***Medimix (Acq 2019) **PharmaFluidics (Acq 2021) **PeproTech (Acq 2021) **The Binding Site Group (Acq 2023) **CorEvitas, LLC (Acq 2023) **Olink Holding (Acq 2023)

Leadership

Marc N. Casper is chairman, president and chief executive officer of Thermo Fisher Scientific. He first joined Thermo Electron in December 2001 as Vice President of the Life and Laboratory Sciences segment. In November 2006, when Thermo Electron and Fisher Scientific merged to form Thermo Fisher Scientific, Casper was named executive vice president of the company and president of the Analytical Technologies Group. He became president and CEO in 2009.

Partnerships

In September 2017, Thermo Fisher Scientific signed an agreement with the Institute of Pathology Heidelberg (IPH) to establish its Center of Molecular Pathology at

Heidelberg University Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest unive ...

Hospital as the newest member of the Next Generation Sequencing Companion Dx Center of Excellence Program (COEP). The initiative focuses on establishing strategic collaborations with leading, European-based organizations that can lead studies using Thermo Fisher's Oncomine portfolio of research panels destined for development as companion diagnostics to help drive precision

oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's Etymology, etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγ ...

in the region. In 2021, Thermo Fisher announced the construction of a cell therapy development, manufacturing and collaboration center in cooperation with

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedic ...

on the school's Mission Bay campus. In February 2022, Thermo Fisher Scientific announced a 15-year strategic collaboration agreement with Moderna, Inc. The collaboration was designed to scale up the manufacturing of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine and other investigational mRNA products. In May 2023, Thermo Fisher partnered with

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered at The Spiral (New York City), The Spiral in Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 184 ...

, with plans to work together on expanding testing capabilities for lung and breast cancer patients. In November 2023, Thermo Fisher partnered with

Flagship Pioneering Flagship Pioneering is an American life sciences venture capital company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts that invests in biotechnology, life sciences, health and sustainability companies. Portfolio companies include Moderna, Indigo Agriculture, ...

, a biotechnology company. Together, they plan to create companies in the biotechnology field.

Controversies

Xinjiang and Tibet

In February 2019, Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that it would stop selling its equipment in

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

. In June 2020, Thermo Fisher Scientific was reported to sell its equipment to security services in China for use in what was alleged as part of a genetic surveillance program. A report from the

Australian Strategic Policy Institute The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) is a defence and strategic policy think tank based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, founded by the Australian government, and funded by the Australian Department of Defence along with o ...

found that Thermo Fisher Scientific collaborated with the Chinese

Ministry of Public Security Ministry of Public Security can refer to: * Ministry of Justice and Public Security (Brazil) * Ministry of Public Security of Burundi * Ministry of Public Security (Chile) * Ministry of Public Security (China) * Ministry of Public Security of Co ...

to develop a Huaxia PCR amplification kit specifically to identify the genotypes of

Uyghur Uyghur may refer to: * Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia (West China) ** Uyghur language, a Turkic language spoken primarily by the Uyghurs *** Old Uyghur language, a different Turkic language spoken in the Uyghur K ...

Tibetan Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...

and

Hui The Hui people are an East Asian ethnoreligious group predominantly composed of Chinese-speaking adherents of Islam. They are distributed throughout China, mainly in the northwestern provinces and in the Zhongyuan region. According to the 2 ...

ethnic minorities. In June 2021, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' reported that, despite bans, Thermo Fisher Scientific equipment continued to be sold to police in Xinjiang. In 2022, following reports that Thermo Fisher Scientific had sold products to police in the

Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), often shortened to Tibet in English or Xizang in Pinyin, Hanyu Pinyin, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China. It was established in 1965 to replace the ...

, the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China called on governments to "investigate and suspend commercial activities with companies providing the PRC government with technologies to carry out biometric surveillance in the Uyghur Region, Tibet and elsewhere in the PRC, including the PRC state backed

BGI Group BGI Group, formerly Beijing Genomics Institute, is a Chinese genomics company with headquarters in Yantian, Shenzhen. The company was originally formed in 1999 as a genetics research center to participate in the Human Genome Project. It also seque ...

and US firm Thermo Fisher." Thermo Fisher Scientific subsequently halted sales of DNA collection kits in Tibet.

HeLa cells

In October 2021 the estate of

Henrietta Lacks Henrietta Lacks (born Loretta Pleasant; August 1, 1920 – October 4, 1951) Note: Some sources report her birthday as August 2, 1920, vs. August 1, 1920. was an African-American woman whose cancer cells are the source of the HeLa cell line, ...

sued to get past and future payment for the alleged and widely known unauthorized sale by Thermo Fisher Scientific of her

HeLa HeLa () is an immortalized cell line used in scientific research. It is the oldest human cell line and one of the most commonly used. HeLa cells are durable and prolific, allowing for extensive applications in scientific study. The line is ...

cells which are essential in many types of research. Over 50 million tons of her cells have been produced and used in over 60,000 scientific studies touching virtually every realm of medicine, including the development of polio vaccines,

gene mapping Gene mapping or genome mapping describes the methods used to identify the location of a gene on a chromosome and the distances between genes. Gene mapping can also describe the distances between different sites within a gene. The essence of all ...

in-vitro fertilization In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation in which an egg is combined with sperm in vitro ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating the ovulatory process, then removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) from t ...

, and multitudes more. In May 2022, it was announced Thermo Fisher Scientific went to court to seek a dismissal of the lawsuit. In late July 2023, with the motion to dismiss still outstanding, the court ordered the parties to attend a settlement conference. Soon after that, settlement of the suit, with undisclosed terms, was announced.

Mexican plant

In 2013, Opengate Capital Group LLC filed suit against Thermo Fisher Scientific for selling it a manufacturing plant controlled by the

Gulf Cartel The Gulf Cartel ( , or ''Golfos'') is a criminal syndicate, Drug cartel, drug trafficking organization, and U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, which is perhaps one of the oldest organized crime groups in Mexico. It is currently bas ...

. According to Opengate Capital, the company withheld important documents and pressured employees into concealing the presence of the drug cartel.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Biotechnology companies of the United States Life science companies based in Massachusetts Research support companies X-ray equipment manufacturers Laboratory equipment manufacturers Technology companies based in Massachusetts Manufacturing companies based in Massachusetts Companies based in Waltham, Massachusetts American companies established in 2006 Manufacturing companies established in 2006 Biotechnology companies established in 2006 2006 establishments in Massachusetts Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange American brands