Eurofins Scientific

Eurofins Scientific was founded in 1987 with 4 employees, when Gilles Martin purchased the rights to the SNIF-NMR technology from the University of Nantes, a patented analytical method used to verify the origin and purity of several types of food and beverages and identify sophisticated fraud not detectable by other methods. This technology had been researched and developed by his own parents, who were professors at the university. During this start up period (1987 to 1997), the SNIF-NMR® patent was registered and approved in the US and broadened to apply to a wider range of products than the original wine test, such as fruit juices and other non-alcoholic beverages. The strategy was then formulated to develop the offering in-house and to expand the range of tests provided to customers.

From 1997, the focus for Eurofins was to buy the very best labs with unique technologies and know how with the potential for global recognition. Additionally the Group expanded to eight new countries and grew to include over 50 laboratory sites. Leading positions were built up in core markets (Food, Pharma and Environment) and also key segments such as genomic information and contaminants testing. This in turn enabled the group access to new, top-tier clients in the pharma and retailing sectors. This was funded firstly with the IPO in Paris in 1997 and then the secondary listing in Frankfurt in 2000.

From 2002, Eurofins started developing the infrastructure to support the business, including a unified IT platform that allowed businesses around the world to access a widening portfolio of sales and to take advantage of cutting edge logistics.

Eurofins has now embarked on another phase of growth based on the unique infrastructure and technological portfolio implemented in the previous years. The Group is continuing to expand its global coverage and local market share both through organic growth and a judicious acquisition programme. Today, the Eurofins Group is a leading provider of analytical services with an international network of more than 800 laboratories across 47 countries in Europe, North and South America and Asia-Pacific, over 45,000 staff. The Eurofins Group offers a portfolio of over 150,000 validated analytical methods for characterizing the safety, identity, purity, composition, authenticity and origin of products and biological substances. More than 360 million tests are performed each year.[4]

On 1 July 2014, Eurofins purchased Viracor-IBT Laboratories from Ampersand Capital Partners for $255 million. The company will continue to be known as ViraCor-IBT.[5]

In May 2015, Eurofins acquired QC Laboratories in the US and Experchems in Canada as part of its North American expansion strategy.[6]

In June 2015, Eurofins announced the acquisition of Biomnis in France for 220 million euros.[7] In September 2017, Eurofins Scientific announced to acquire EAG Laboratories (Evans Analytical Group), a scientific services company that serves technology and life-science-related industries.[8] On 5 March 2018, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection announced to collect a $600,000 penalty from Eurofins QC, LLC (Eurofins QC in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania) for falsifying whole effluent toxicity test (WETT) results.[9]

Eurofins purchased Nanolab Technologies Inc, a service lab for the silicon valley industry, on 2 August 2018.[10]

Eurofins acquired MET Labs on 11 January 2018, which enabled them to have a Nationally Recognized Test Laboratory as established by OHSA.[11]

On 3 June 2019, Eurofins reported that some of its IT systems were infected with ransomware and many servers and systems were taken offline.[12] Eurofins paid the ransom after heavy disruption of their services. Court hearings were postponed as the forensics division was unable to take new samples.[13]

On 11 July 2019, Lab Solution was Eurofins's latest acquisition.[14]

The company has developed an exclusive method of food analysis, testing and authentication that has thwarted the counterfeiting of food goods, and also cigars.[1][15] The company's testing can also detect food contaminants.[1]

• Assay
• Site-Specific Natural Isotope Fractionation-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (SNIF-NMR) – used by Eurofins for the analysis of wines and other alcoholic beverages

• Official website
• Short History of Eurofins Scientific