Many people think of LabCorp simply as the merger of Roche Biomedical Laboratories and National Health Laboratories in 1995. However, our roots extend back to 1905 when Hoffmann-La Roche began operations in the United States. Hoffmann-La Roche officially entered the lab business when it acquired the Kings County Research Laboratory in 1969. About the same time as Hoffmann-La Roche was purchasing Kings County Research Laboratory, Thomas Edward Powell III, and his twin brothers, Dr. James B. Powell and John Powell, were forming Biomedical Laboratories (later known as Biomedical Reference Laboratories) in a hospital basement in Burlington, NC. After a number of acquisitions, Hoffmann-La Roche acquired Biomedical Reference Laboratories in 1982. In 1983, Hoffmann-La Roche merged all of its laboratory companies into one company, which it called Roche Biomedical Laboratories (RBL).
Prior to the formation of RBL, National Health Laboratories (NHL) was formed in 1978. NHL, owned by the Revlon Health Care Group, grew to $761 million in revenue by 1993. In 1994, NHL further broadened its laboratory testing capabilities by acquiring the sixth largest clinical lab in the US, Allied Clinical Health. By the mid 1990s NHL and RBL were two of the largest clinical, drug-screening, and paternity laboratories in the US.
In 1995, National Health Laboratories and Roche Biomedical Laboratories merged to become one of the largest clinical lab provider in the world. Initially led by Dr. James Powell, the new company ? Laboratory Corporation of America ? was headquartered in Burlington, NC. Over the last 10 years, LabCorp has continued to expand our esoteric and specialty laboratory testing capabilities by acquiring scientific leaders in the genomics, anatomic pathology, and personalized medicine arenas. In July 2000, LabCorp acquired Los Angeles-based National Genetics Institute, allowing LabCorp to gain NGI?s ultra-sensitive hepatitis C testing capability. In 2001, ViroMed, one of the leading laboratories in molecular microbial testing using real-time PCR platforms, became a part of LabCorp. LabCorp acquired Dynacare with locations in Washington, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Canada in June 2002. In 2005, LabCorp acquired Esoterix, Inc. and its leading specialty labs ? Colorado Coagulation, Endocrine Sciences, and Cytometry Associates.
In conjunction with our investments in expanding our esoteric testing capabilities, LabCorp continues to invest in building the most robust anatomic pathology capabilities in the world. LabCorp further strengthened its anatomic pathology capabilities by acquiring DIANON Systems in 2003 and US LABS in 2005. DIANON is distinguished for its capabilities in specific organ systems and clinical disciplines of uropathology, dermatopathology, and gastrointestinal pathology. US LABS? extensive menu of esoteric oncology testing and expertise across multiple methodologies further balanced LabCorp?s anatomic pathology c. Medical