Miles Laboratories was founded as the Dr. Miles Medical Company in Elkhart,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, in 1884 by Dr. Franklin Lawrence Miles, a specialist in the treatment of eye and ear disorders, with an interest in the connection of the nervous system to overall health. The company is known for inventing products such as Alka-Selzer and One-A-Day vitamins. Miles operated as an independent firm from 1884 until 1979 and as a wholly owned subsidiary of

Bayer AG Bayer AG (, commonly pronounced ; ) is a German multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company and one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Headquartered in Leverkusen, Bayer's areas of business include pharmaceutica ...

from 1979 until 1995. At the company's peak in the 1960s and 1970s, it employed 3,300 people and produced more than two dozen products. In 1995, it was consolidated into the parent corporation.

History

By 1890, the sales success of his patent medicine tonic, "Dr. Miles Restorative Nervine," in treating "nervous" ailments (including "

nervousness Nervous may refer to: * nervousness * Nervous system, a network of cells in an animal's body that coordinates movement and the senses ** Nervous tissue, the cells of the nervous system that work in aggregate to transmit signals Music * "Nervous" ...

nervous exhaustion Neurasthenia (from the Ancient Greek νεῦρον ''neuron'' "nerve" and ἀσθενής ''asthenés'' "weak") is a term that was first used at least as early as 1829 for a mechanical weakness of the nerves and became a major diagnosis in North ...

, sleeplessness,

hysteria Hysteria is a term used colloquially to mean ungovernable emotional excess and can refer to a temporary state of mind or emotion. In the nineteenth century, hysteria was considered a diagnosable physical illness in women. It is assumed that ...

headache Headache is the symptom of pain in the face, head, or neck. It can occur as a migraine, tension-type headache, or cluster headache. There is an increased risk of depression in those with severe headaches. Headaches can occur as a result ...

neuralgia Neuralgia (Greek ''neuron'', "nerve" + ''algos'', "pain") is pain in the distribution of one or more nerves, as in intercostal neuralgia, trigeminal neuralgia, and glossopharyngeal neuralgia. Classification Under the general heading of neuralg ...

backache Back pain is pain felt in the back. It may be classified as neck pain (cervical), middle back pain (thoracic), lower back pain (lumbar) or coccydynia (tailbone or sacral pain) based on the segment affected. The lumbar area is the most common ...

pain Pain is a distressing feeling often caused by intense or damaging stimuli. The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, ...

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrical ...

spasm A spasm is a sudden involuntary contraction of a muscle, a group of muscles, or a hollow organ such as the bladder. A spasmodic muscle contraction may be caused by many medical conditions, including dystonia. Most commonly, it is a muscle c ...

s, fits, and St. Vitus' dance") led him to develop a

mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing a telephone call * Placing a ...

medicine business. Miles also published ''Medical News'', from 1884—a thinly disguised marketing vehicle for

Nervine Nervine was a patent medicine tonic with sedative effects introduced in 1884 by Dr. Miles Medical Company (later Miles Laboratories which was absorbed into Bayer). It is a cognate of 'Nerve', and the implication was that the material worked to ...

, now referenced as

advertorial An advertorial is an advertisement in the form of editorial content. The term "advertorial" is a blend (see portmanteau) of the words "advertisement" and "editorial." Merriam-Webster dates the origin of the word to 1946. In printed publications, t ...

s. Nervine remained on the market as a " calmative" until the late 1960s; Miles' bromide sedative syrup is considered "a precursor to modern tranquilizers." The company was at the heart of the 1911 antitrust Supreme Court case '' Dr. Miles Medical Co. v. John D. Park & Sons Co.'' After John D. Park & Sons Co. profited off of Dr. Miles' advertising while selling his products at rock bottom prices, the Supreme Court ruled that

resale price maintenance Resale price maintenance (RPM) or, occasionally, retail price maintenance is the practice whereby a manufacturer and its distributors agree that the distributors will sell the manufacturer's product at certain prices (resale price maintenance), a ...

, a form of vertical restraint, is illegal ''per se''. In 1932, the company became Dr. Miles Laboratories; then, in 1935, the name was again changed, to Miles Laboratories. In 1947, Miles Laboratories purchased Chemical Specialties Inc. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the company produced various goods for the US war effort, including packaged coffee products for military rations. The company already made One-A-Day Vitamins and later introduced Chocks, the first chewable

multivitamins A multivitamin is a preparation intended to serve as a dietary supplement with vitamins, dietary minerals, and other nutritional elements. Such preparations are available in the form of tablets, capsules, pastilles, powders, liquids, or injectable ...

for children. Flintstones Vitamins came later. In 1970, to complement its existing vitamin manufacturing division, Miles laboratories merged with

Adventist Adventism is a branch of Protestant Christianity that believes in the imminent Second Coming (or the "Second Advent") of Jesus Christ. It originated in the 1830s in the United States during the Second Great Awakening when Baptist preacher Wil ...

-owned Worthington Foods of Ohio, opening a new Worthington Foods factory in 1972 to quadruple production capacity for a line of vegetarian foods based on the

meat analogue A meat alternative or meat substitute (also called plant-based meat or fake meat, sometimes pejoratively) is a food product made from vegetarian or vegan ingredients, eaten as a replacement for meat. Meat alternatives typically approximate qua ...

developed over the previous two decades by Worthington, to be marketed under the brand name Morning Star Farm Foods, Morning Star was sold with Worthington Foods to

Kellogg's The Kellogg Company, doing business as Kellogg's, is an American multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. Kellogg's produces cereal and convenience foods, including crackers and toaste ...

in 1999. In 1979,

—after its U.S. and Canadian

aspirin Aspirin, also known as acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used to reduce pain, fever, and/or inflammation, and as an antithrombotic. Specific inflammatory conditions which aspirin is used to treat inc ...

business was seized as enemy property during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and subsequently sold as enemy assets—purchased Miles Laboratories and its subsidiary Miles Canada to reestablish a presence in North America. In the process, Bayer also acquired products such as

Alka-Seltzer Alka-Seltzer is an effervescent antacid and pain reliever first marketed by the Dr. Miles Medicine Company of Elkhart, Indiana, United States. Alka-Seltzer contains three active ingredients: aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) (ASA), sodium bicarbonate ...

, Flintstones Vitamins, One-a-Day,

Bactine Benzalkonium chloride/lidocaine (trade name Bactine among others) is an antiseptic, first-aid treatment distributed by Wellspring Pharmaceutical Corporation. Bactine was developed in 1947 and first marketed in 1950 by Miles Laboratories. It is a ...

, S.O.S Soap Pads, and Worthington Foods. Bayer continued to operate Miles Laboratories and developed many drugs based upon biological extracts, such as

Kogenate Factor VIII is a medication used to treat and prevent bleeding in people with hemophilia A and other causes of low factor VIII. Certain preparations may also be used in those with von Willebrand's disease. It is given by slow injection into a v ...

, Gamimune-N and other

immunoglobulin An antibody (Ab), also known as an immunoglobulin (Ig), is a large, Y-shaped protein used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects such as pathogenic bacteria and viruses. The antibody recognizes a unique molecule of the ...

s, and Trasylol, as well as diagnostic products such as

blood glucose Glycaemia, also known as blood sugar level, blood sugar concentration, or blood glucose level is the measure of glucose concentrated in the blood of humans or other animals. Approximately 4 grams of glucose, a simple sugar, is present in the blo ...

test strips and

glucose meter A glucose meter, also referred to as a "glucometer", is a medical device for determining the approximate concentration of glucose in the blood. It can also be a strip of glucose paper dipped into a substance and measured to the glucose chart. ...

s. Miles also owned

Cutter Laboratories Cutter Laboratories was a family-owned pharmaceutical company located in Berkeley, California, founded by Edward Ahern Cutter in 1897. Cutter's early products included anthrax vaccine, hog cholera (swine fever) virus, and anti-hog cholera serum� ...

, manufacturer of such diverse products as

insect repellent An insect repellent (also commonly called "bug spray") is a substance applied to skin, clothing, or other surfaces to discourage insects (and arthropods in general) from landing or climbing on that surface. Insect repellents help prevent and cont ...

and synthetic human

Factor VIII Factor VIII (FVIII) is an essential blood-clotting protein, also known as anti-hemophilic factor (AHF). In humans, factor VIII is encoded by the ''F8'' gene. Defects in this gene result in hemophilia A, a recessive X-linked coagulation disorder. ...

clotting factor Coagulation, also known as clotting, is the process by which blood changes from a liquid to a gel, forming a blood clot. It potentially results in hemostasis, the cessation of blood loss from a damaged vessel, followed by repair. The mechanism o ...

for

hemophiliac Haemophilia, or hemophilia (), is a mostly inherited genetic disorder that impairs the body's ability to make blood clots, a process needed to stop bleeding. This results in people bleeding for a longer time after an injury, easy bruising, ...

s. In 1992, Bayer AG moved the United States headquarters of Miles to

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, from Elkhart, Indiana. In 1994, the Bayer moved the Miles headquarters to New Jersey. That year, Bayer announced plans to change the name of the company. On April 1, 1995, Bayer retired the Miles brand name from all products and facilities after Bayer had acquired Sterling Winthrop the previous year. Miles Laboratories also operated sites in other parts of the United States, including

West Haven West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, which are now part of Bayer AG. In 2007, the Miles Laboratories campus of Beyer AG in Connecticut was sold to Yale University and now comprises Yale West campus, including art and anthropological restoration and preservation, energy research, nanobiology, systems biology, and Yale Nursing School. Between 2011 and 2012, the former Miles campus, a 26-acre site located in Elkhart, was vacated and the remaining buildings were demolished.

References

{{Authority control Bayer Manufacturing companies established in 1885 Pharmaceutical companies disestablished in 1995 Companies based in Pittsburgh Defunct pharmaceutical companies of the United States Companies based in Elkhart County, Indiana American companies established in 1885