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History

Company background

A pioneer in Innovating for Health

Biohit’s roots extend back to the 1970s, to two companies established by professor Osmo Suovaniemi, M.D., Ph.D (Labsystems Oyj in 1971 and Eflab Oy in 1978). They developed the first single and multichannel precision pipettes with adjustable volumes, which revolutionised liquid handling in laboratories and also made it much safer. The same innovative team also developed the first instrument based on vertical photometry, the Titertek Multiskan, as well as diagnostic tests for the diagnosis of infections and cancers. When Suovaniemi left in 1986, these companies were the largest and fastest growing companies in the industry in Finland.

Osmo Suovaniemi’s innovations, such as vertical photometry and microplate analyses, and single and multichannel precision pipettes with adjustable volumes, became a model for numerous other pipette manufacturers. Suovaniemi’s inventions have been so extensively used since the 1970s that they can justifiably be called global standards in the laboratory industry. (TEKES, The National Technology Agency of Finland, 2001. Paving the Way for Evidence-Based Medicine: Diagnostics 2000). His innovations have enabled the massive and rapid development of, for example, non-radioactive microplate-based immunoassays. These form the basis for Biohit’s ELISA-based GastroPanel®, cellular fibronectin and SLE tests.
The growth and development of Labsystems Oyj, Eflab Oy and Biohit Oyj have been driven by Osmo Suovaniemi’s strategy of aggressive innovation and patenting, which has created – and continues to create – new products, business expansion and increased exports. From day one, the companies have relied on high technology developed through innovation, the best expertise in the industry and an international approach.

Today, Biohit continues to promote wellbeing and quality of life across the globe by developing, manufacturing and marketing acetaldehyde binding products and diagnostic tests for researchers working in clinical and industrial laboratories.

Literature

  1. Read more about Osmo Suovaniemi’s aggressive innovation and patenting strategy
  2. www.google.com: Search: “Osmo Suovaniemi vertical measurement principle”
  3. Case Study ergonomics: A Biopharmaceutical Breakthrough by Joan G. Erickson & Anthony V. Smith, Occupational Health & Safety Magazine from a published article in the June 07 Volume 76, Number 6 issue.
  4. Biohit has patents and patents pending in several countries.