LifeScan, Inc. is a diagnostic systems manufacturer with products focusing on the diabetes market, specifically

blood glucose The blood sugar level, blood sugar concentration, blood glucose level, or glycemia is the measure of glucose concentrated in the blood. The body tightly blood sugar regulation, regulates blood glucose levels as a part of metabolic homeostasis ...

monitoring systems.

History

LifeScan was established in 1981. It was acquired by

Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical technologies corporation headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Its common stock is a c ...

(J&J) in 1986, and in June 2018, J&J agreed to sell LifeScan to

Platinum Equity Platinum Equity, LLC is an American private equity investment firm founded by Tom Gores in 1995, headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. The firm focuses on leveraged buyout investments of established companies in the U.S., Europe and Asia. ...

as part of its strategic exit from the diabetes device market, accepting an offer originally tendered in March 2018. The divestiture completed in October 2018. LifeScan manufactures and markets the OneTouch Ultra and OneTouch Verio families of products for home use. The company philosophy is to "create a world without limits for people with

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

." During its existence, LifeScan revolutionized blood glucose monitoring by introduction of its "One Touch" systems. Originally, the measurement was made using a test strip which changed color depending on the glucose content of a blood sample, and LifeScan rose to become the world-leading producer of such systems in the early 1990s. Later, the measurement technology was changed to electrochemistry, but LifeScan maintained a leading position in the industry. LifeScan has facilities in

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

, Scotland;

Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard In ...

, British Columbia, Canada; and

Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico Cabo Rojo (), ) is a Cabo Rojo barrio-pueblo, city and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality situated on the southwest coast of Puerto Rico and forms part of the San Germán – Cabo Rojo metropolitan area, San Germán–Cabo Rojo metropol ...

. Animas Corporation of

West Chester, Pennsylvania West Chester is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough and the county seat of Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located in the Delaware Valley, Philadelphia metropolitan area, the borough had a population of 18,671 at the 2020 census. West ...

, which produced insulin pumps for people with diabetes, was acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 2006 and now closed, reported to LifeScan. LifeScan, which employed 2400 people as of early 2018, was the central part of J&J's diabetes device business. J&J announced plans to exit from the diabetes device market in 2017, including divesting LifeScan. In January 2018, there were reports of Chinese investors expressing interest in purchasing the company for , while in March, Platinum Equity offered the far smaller sum of for the unit.

References

External links

LifeScan

LifeScan Diabetes Institute

OneTouch
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lifescan, Inc. Johnson & Johnson subsidiaries Diabetes organizations Medical technology companies of the United Kingdom Companies established in 1981 1986 mergers and acquisitions 2018 mergers and acquisitions Diabetes-related supplies and medical equipment Management of diabetes