Beckman Coulter Genomics history

1938 Model G and Model M pH meters introduced.

1940 Moved into own building in South Pasadena.Doctor Beckman left Caltech to devote full time to the development and manufacture of scientific instruments.

Introduced two more products that set company’s growth course – Helipot® Potentiometer followed in 1941 by DU® Spectrophotometer.

1943 Helipot Corporation formed.

In 1946 Wallace Coulter was working in Chicago, where he spent much of his spare time tinkering with electronics with his younger brother Joseph R. Coulter, Jr., who had graduated from Chicago's Illinois Institute of Technology and was working as a Motorola engineer.

The Coulter brothers made and patented the first Coulter Counter Model A in 1953, with help from a federal grant.

1954 Stock listed on Los Angeles and San Francisco Stock Exchanges (now Pacific Stock Exchange). Beckman headquarters and principal operations moved from Pasadena to a new facility in Fullerton, California.

1956 Acquired Watts Manufacturing Company in West Virginia manufacturer of process gas chromatographs; Lou-Bar Company; and Belock Instruments Corporation.

In 1958 the Coulter brothers formed Coulter Electronics, Inc., and three years later they moved their growing business to Hialeah, Florida, next to Miami.

1959 Acquired Kruger Instruments Co., Pasadena, California, manufacturer of air quality instruments, and Tool Lab, Inc.

Wallace Coulter's invention was recognized in 1960 when he received the John Scott Award for Scientific Achievement for discovering a concept which revolutionized not only hematology, but also other industries.

1961 Acquired Offner Electronics, Inc., Schiller Park, Ilinois, manufacturer of direct-writing oscillographs and electroencephalographs.

By 1962 it had expanded to 15 nations on five continents.

1963 Established United States direct sales and service organization for laboratory instruments previously sold through dealers.

1964 Established manufacturing plant in Porterville, California.

1965 Doctor William F. Ballhaus joins Beckman as President and member of the Board of Directors.

1966 Formed a new subsidiary firm: Beckman Instruments de Mexico, S.A. de C.V., Mexico City.

1967 Acquired the Republic Division of Rockwell Manufacturing Company.

In 1968, Beckman Instruments, Inc. expanded its laboratory instrument focus to include healthcare applications in clinical diagnostics.

1969 Established Analytical Instruments Sales and Service Division (AISSD).

1970 Established Diagnostics Operations to develop and produce clinical reagents.

1971 Established Beckman Instruments (Ireland) Inc., Galway.

1972 Established Beckman Instruments (Process) S.A., Geneva, Switzerland.

1978 Acquired Altex Scientific Inc., Berkeley, California, a manufacturer of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) systems.

1979 Clinical Instruments Division opened new plant in Brea, California.

1980 Beckman acquired SpectraMetrics, Inc., Andover, Massachusetts, a manufacturer of plasma emission spectrometers.

1983 Acquired Micro-Media Systems, Inc., Potomac, Maryland, producer of clinical microbiology products.

Doctor Beckman elected a director and subsequently a vice chairman (1984) of SKB. Doctor William F. Ballhaus retired.

In 1987 Coulter Corporation began implementing a manufacturing concept pioneered by the Japanese.

1988 Beckman re-listed as a public company on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE); 16% of SmithKline Beckman.

So in 1992 it purchased from the Resolution Trust Corporation the 102 acres formerly owned by AmeriFirst, including five two-story buildings and plenty of space for expansion.

In August 1993 Coulter and the University of Michigan announced they had produced a monoclonal antibody to fight B-cells, white blood cells that proliferate and become malignant in non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

Meanwhile, Coulter Corporation in 1995 acquired a French biotechnology firm called Immunotech because of its product line of about 800 antibodies.

Then in May 1996 InterWest Partners raised $22 million in a private stock sale to fund the clinical trials necessary to win FDA approval of this new product.

Coulter Pharmaceuticals on January 28, 1997, became a public firm, offering 2.5 million shares for $12 each.

Effective April 1998, the new firm was renamed Beckman Coulter, Inc.

2000 Established new business unit in San Diego, Immunomics Operations – to focus on cellular immune response technologies.

2003 Beckman Coulter combined the Life Science Research and Specialty Testing divisions to form the Biomedical Research Division.

2006 Sold the company’s minority equity investment in Agencourt Personal Genomics (APG) to Applera Corporation for about $50 million cash.

2010 Scott Garrett resigned as president, chairman, and CEO. Bob Hurley stepped in as interim president and CEO with Glenn Schafer to serve as chairman.

Acquired by Danaher in 2011, Beckman Coulter continues to be a world leader in clinical diagnostics and life science research

In 2012 Danaher purchased Beckman Coulter and divided the company into two operating companies, Diagnostics (HQ - Brea, CA) and Life Sciences (HQ – Indianapolis, IN). Beckman Coulter Life Sciences is a leader in scientific research instruments primarily serving the academia and pharma markets.

2014 Acquired cytometer maker Xitogen Technologies with fully staffed facilities in Suzhou and Dalian, China.