From our earliest days, improving the lives of patients has been at the heart of our business. Vitamin C deficiency was a major health problem until 1933, when scientists learned how to manufacture it. Within a year, we created the first test to accurately measure levels of vitamin C in the body. Thanks to this test, doctors could clearly identify which patients needed to take supplements of this vitamin so essential to our health.

The advent of computers and digital record-keeping in the 1950s launched the digital revolution. We quickly realized this also heralded the dawn of a new age in laboratory medicine. In the 1960s, we acquired the electronic research unit of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), the diagnostics unit of Chemische Fabrik Schweizerhalle, and device manufacturer Tegimenta. Together, they became the building blocks of our rapidly advancing lab technology.

Less than a decade later, we launched the world’s first automated laboratory diagnostics device: the cobas® Bio, an innovative centrifugal analyser for clinical chemistry. The cobas family created the multi-channel analyzer, the first instrument that allowed users to do several tests in parallel – a revolution in diagnostics. Since its introduction, cobas has become the industry’s standard bearer for quality and performance. We continue to bring innovative new solutions to the market.

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