Ortho Clinical Diagnostics is an

in vitro diagnostics A medical test is a medical procedure performed to detect, diagnose, or monitor diseases, disease processes, susceptibility, or to determine a course of treatment. Medical tests such as, physical and visual exams, diagnostic imaging, genetic te ...

company that makes products and diagnostic equipment for

blood testing A blood test is a laboratory analysis performed on a blood sample that is usually extracted from a vein in the arm using a hypodermic needle, or via fingerprick. Multiple tests for specific blood components, such as a glucose test or a cholester ...

. Ortho serves two primary industries in the medical field: clinical laboratories, by producing platforms and assays that test for a variety of diseases, conditions, and substances; and

immunohematology Immunohematology is a branch of hematology and transfusion medicine which studies antigen-antibody reactions and analogous phenomena as they relate to the pathogenesis and clinical manifestations of blood disorders. A person employed in this field ...

, by providing the means to ensure blood transfusion recipients receive appropriate and compatible blood.
Johnson and Johnson acquired

Eastman Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...

's Clinical Diagnostics Division in 1994 (to form Johnson & Johnson Clinical Diagnostics), which was then merged with Ortho Diagnostic Systems in 1997. Ortho's global corporate offices are in

Raritan, New Jersey Raritan is a borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 6,881,Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

. In 2014,

The Carlyle Group The Carlyle Group is a multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services corporation based in the United States with $376 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, real assets, and pri ...

purchased the company from

Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational corporation founded in 1886 that develops medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer packaged goods. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company i ...

for $4.15 billion. Ortho Clinical Diagnostics now operated as an independent company, up until its acquisition by Quidel Corporation for $6 billion, on May 27th 2022.

History

1939: Ortho Products, Inc., is formed in Linden, New Jersey, as a division of

. 1944: Philip Levine, in the field of

hematology Hematology ( always spelled haematology in British English) is the branch of medicine concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases related to blood. It involves treating diseases that affect the produc ...

, joins Ortho Products to continue his research into the mechanics of the Rh system in human blood. 1997: Ortho Diagnostics Systems and Johnson & Johnson Clinical Diagnostics merge and begin operating as Ortho Clinical Diagnostics. 2001: Ortho becomes the first diagnostic company to receive US FDA approval for automated random access

hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), poor appetite, vomiting, tiredness, abdominal pa ...

tests. 2006: Ortho launches the first FDA-licensed test to screen blood donations for exposure to

Chagas disease Chagas disease, also known as American trypanosomiasis, is a tropical parasitic disease caused by ''Trypanosoma cruzi''. It is spread mostly by insects in the subfamily ''Triatominae'', known as "kissing bugs". The symptoms change over the cou ...

. 2014:

acquires Ortho Clinical Diagnostics for $4.15 billion. 2015: Ortho receives

FDA The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...

clearance for its ORTHO VISION Analyzer, which automates the full range of immunohematology testing and helps improve the safety of

blood transfusions Blood transfusion is the process of transferring blood products into a person's circulation intravenously. Transfusions are used for various medical conditions to replace lost components of the blood. Early transfusions used whole blood, but mod ...

by reducing laboratories' reliance on manual methods. 2017:

approves Ortho's HIV Combo test for the Vitros immunodiagnostic system. The test detects both HIV-1 and HIV-2 antibodies and the p24 antigen, and enables detection of HIV-1 acute infection earlier than previous assays.

Business operations

Ortho produces in-vitro diagnostics equipment and associated assays and reagents, serving the clinical laboratories and

sectors of the medical field.
Ortho sells its products in more than 125 countries and is targeting

emerging markets An emerging market (or an emerging country or an emerging economy) is a market that has some characteristics of a developed market, but does not fully meet its standards. This includes markets that may become developed markets in the future or were ...

for future growth.

References

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External links

Ortho Clinical Diagnostics
1994 establishments in New Jersey Companies based in New Jersey American companies established in 1994 Medical technology companies of the United States Medical tests Technology companies based in New Jersey