Alere

Alere Inc.

Type	Public
Traded as	NYSE: ALR
Industry	health care diagnostics
Founded	1991
Headquarters	Waltham, Massachusetts, United States
Area served	Worldwide
Revenue	$3.03 billion (As of 2013)[1]
Website	www.alere.com

Alere Inc. is a global diagnostic device and service provider. The company was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.^[2][3] As of March 2014, the company has a market capitalization of $3 billion with an enterprise value of $6.46 billion.^[1] The company was formerly known as Inverness Medical Innovation, Inc. and changed its name to Alere Inc. in 2010.^[2] 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]

History

The company was initially set up in 1991 by Ron Zwanziger. Its original name was SelfCare, which became 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. The company subsequently expanded its business by acquiring many companies, including Clondiag, Ionian Technologies, TwistDx, Wampole Laboratories, Ostex International, Binax, Biosite, Standard Diagnostics, and Axis-Shield. 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 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 early 2015, Alere divested its Alere Health management activities to Optum.

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 February 2016, Abbott Laboratories announced it would acquire Alere Inc for $5.8 billion.^[8][9] However, in April, Abbott requested of Alere that this deal be terminated, a proposal rejected by Alere's board of directors.^[10]

Business

The company operates its business through three segments including Professional Diagnostics, Health Information Solutions, and Consumer Diagnostics.^[2] The company pioneers in manufacturing point of care diagnostic devices and provides products to professional institutes and personnel worldwide.^[11]

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 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.

In 2014 Alere received clearance from US FDA for the Alere i Influenza A&B, a 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.

In March 2015 Alere received IVD CE mark for Alere q HIV analyser, Alere q is 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]

References