Alere

Last updated
Alere Inc.
FormerlyInverness Medical Innovations, Inc.
Company type Public
NYSE: ALR
Industryhealth care diagnostics
Founded1991;33 years ago (1991)
DefunctOctober 3, 2017 (2017-10-03)
FateAcquired by Abbott Laboratories
Headquarters Waltham, Massachusetts,
United States
Area served
Worldwide
RevenueUS$2.39 billion (As of 2017) [1]
Number of employees
9,700 (2016)
Website www.alere.com

Alere Inc. was a global manufacturer of rapid point-of-care diagnostic tests. The company was founded in 1991 and was headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. [2] [3] As of January 2017, the company had a market capitalization of $3.47 billion with an enterprise value of $5.9 billion. [1] The company was formerly known as Inverness Medical Innovations, Inc. and changed its name to Alere Inc. in 2010. [2]

Contents

History

The company was founded in 1991 by Ron Zwanziger under the name SelfCare, which went public in 1996. The company changed its name from SelfCare to Inverness Medical Technology (IMT) in 2000. One year later, it sold its diabetes business to Johnson & Johnson, and split off a new company called Inverness Medical Innovations. That company subsequently expanded its business by acquiring many companies, including Unipath, Clondiag, Ionian Technologies, TwistDx, Wampole Laboratories, Ostex International, Binax, Biosite, HemoSense, Cholestech, Redwood Toxicology, Concateno, BBI Holdings, eScreen, Standard Diagnostics, and hhh Axis-Shield.[ citation needed ]

In 2007, Alere entered into a joint venture, named Swiss Precision Diagnostics, with Procter & Gamble for the sales and marketing of its consumer diagnostics products.

In 2009, Alere won two awards in the 16th Annual National Health Information program, which recognizes the U.S.’s best consumer health information programs and materials. [4]

In 2010, the company changed its name to Alere and began trading under the ticker ALR in NYSE. [5]

In 2013, the company completed the acquisition of Epocal, Inc. [6]

In July 2014 Ron Zwanziger resigned as CEO and COO Namal Nawana took over as interim CEO.

In September 2014, Zwanziger offered to take the company private for $3.82 billion. [7]

In October 2014, the board of directors voted and instated Namal Nawana as the permanent CEO of Alere, Inc.

In early 2015, Alere divested its Alere Health management activities to Optum.

In February 2016, Abbott Laboratories announced it would acquire Alere Inc for $5.8 billion. [8] However, in April, Abbott requested of Alere that this deal be terminated, a proposal rejected by Alere's board of directors. [9]

On October 3, 2017, Abbott closed the Alere acquisition at the reduced price of $5.3 billion, making the surviving entity the market leader player in the $7 billion point-of-care diagnostic space within the broader $50 billion in-vitro diagnostics market with this takeover. [10] With the acquisition of Alere, the company also obtain the subsidiary Arriva Medical, which is the largest mail-order diabetic supplier.

Business

Alere operated three business units focused on cardiometabolic, infectious disease, and toxicology testing. [2] The company was a pioneer in manufacturing rapid point-of-care diagnostic tests and provided products to healthcare professionals and patients worldwide. [11]

In 2004, the company launched the world's first digital pregnancy test under Clearblue® Digital Pregnancy Test.

In 2010, Alere launched the Alere CD4 analyser, the world's first to provide absolute CD4 results at the Point of Care, making the management of HIV patients easier and more effective.

October 2012, the company received a warning from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its inadequate response to FDA's earlier observations on its manufacturing process of the Triage products. [12] [13]

In 2014 Alere received clearance from US FDA for the Alere i Influenza A&B, a rapid molecular point-of-care test to detect and differentiate Influenza A&B virus in less than 15 minutes. In Jan 2015, Alere received US CLIA waiver for the Alere i Influenza test. In April 2015, Alere received FDA clearance for its second test on the Alere i platform, the Alere i Strep A test for Group A Streptococcus, which provides results in 8 minutes or less.

In March 2015 Alere received IVD CE mark for Alere q HIV analyser, a fully automated nucleic acid testing platform which brings the power of molecular testing to bench tops in any healthcare setting.

In August 2016 Alere received FDA Clearance for Alere i RSV Rapid Molecular Test which detects RSV infections in 13 minutes or less. [14]

In 2016 the U.S. Justice Department launched an investigation into Alere's role in potential Medicaid and Medicare fraud. [15] [16]

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References

  1. 1 2 "ALR Key Statistics | Alere Inc Stock - Yahoo! Finance". Finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
  2. 1 2 3 "ALR: Summary for Alere Inc. Common Stock- Yahoo! Finance". Finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2014-03-18.
  3. ↑ "Alere Wins Awards for Participant Engagement Programs". Prnewswire.com. 2009-07-23. Retrieved 2014-03-18.
  4. ↑ "Company History from Official Website". Alere.com. Archived from the original on 2014-03-19. Retrieved 2014-03-18.
  5. ↑ "Alere Inc: NYSE:ALR quotes & news - Google Finance" . Retrieved 2014-03-18.
  6. ↑ "Alere's former CEO offers to take company private". Reuters. 15 September 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  7. ↑ "Abbott to Acquire Alere for $5.8B". 1 February 2016.
  8. ↑ DeMuth Jr., Chris (29 April 2016). "Google-Fiat Self-Driving Car Deal". Seeking Alpha. Alere. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  9. ↑ "Abbott to Gain from Alere's Takeover Due for Oct 3 Closure". GEN.
  10. ↑ "Alere, Inc. NASDAQ Quote". Nasdaq.com. Retrieved 2014-03-18.
  11. ↑ "Alere gets FDA warning letter over San Diego facility". Reuters.com. 2012-10-24. Retrieved 2014-03-18.
  12. ↑ "Alere Inc : Award-Winning Healthcare Analytics Company, DiagnosisOne, Joins Alere Family". 4-traders.com. 2012-10-22. Retrieved 2014-03-18.
  13. ↑ Research, Zacks Investment. "Alere (ALR) Receives FDA Approval for RSV Molecular Test" . Retrieved 2016-09-12.
  14. ↑ Cortez, Michelle (27 July 2016). "Alere Shares Whiplash as Investors Debate Latest Investigation". Bloomberg News . Retrieved 12 October 2016.
  15. ↑ Hoffman, Liz (27 July 2016). "Alere Faces Criminal Probe Over Medicare, Medicaid Billing". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved 12 October 2016.
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