Millipore History and Milestones

Bold Beginning

In the early 1950s Lovell Corporation won a contract from the U.S. Army Chemical Engineers to develop and manufacture membrane filtering devices and systems used to separate the molecular components of fluid samples.


When the membranes were declassified in 1953 and offered for commercial use, Jack Bush, a Lovell employee, bought the company’s right to the technology for $200,000 and established the Millipore Filter Company which later changed its name to Millipore Corporation to reflect its growing range of products.

Global Growth

Millipore aggressively pursued new markets around the world, as the demand for separations technologies grew among researchers, medical schools and hospitals, as well as in the pharmaceutical, chemical, plastics, food-and-beverage, and microelectronics industries.

By 1970, Millipore had established subsidiaries in seven countries. To meet growing worldwide demand for its products, the company also opened manufacturing plants in Jaffrey, New Hampshire; Molsheim, France; Cork, Ireland; and several other locations.

Expanded Capabilities

Millipore has continually expanded its core capabilities through strategic acquisitions, targeted capital investments, and organic growth.

Millipore’s 2006 acquisition of Serologicals Corporation gave the company leading positions in several high-growth markets:

• Drug discovery products and services
• Antibodies
• Cell biology reagents
• Stem cell research

Major Milestones

Over the past 50 years, Millipore has introduced thousands of new products, expanded its operations around the world, acquired and divested numerous businesses, and reinvented itself several times to keep pace with evolving customer needs. Here are some of the key milestones representative of Millipore’s changes and growth over the past five decades.


1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s

1950s

1954: Millipore Filter Corporation is officially incorporated.

1954: Jack Bush becomes president (and later chairman) of Millipore. Jack is the son of Vannevar Bush, science advisor to President Roosevelt in World War II.

1955: Millipore receives its first patent -- for microporous nylon film invented by Stanley Lovell and Jack Bush.

Back to Top

1967: Millipore introduces the Super-Q water purification system.

1967: Millipore establishes a subsidiary in Germany.

1968: Millipore establishes a subsidiary in Japan.

1968: Millipore introduces its Pellicon cassette product, for purifying biotherapeutics.

Back to Top

1972: Millipore establishes a subsidiary in Spain.

1972: Millipore opens a manufacturing plant in Jaffrey, New Hampshire.

1973: Millipore starts manufacturing in Molsheim, France.

1973: Millipore introduces the Milli-Q water purification system, the world’s first lab-scale ultra pure water system.

1978: Millipore reaches the $100 million revenue milestone.

1978: Millipore opens a manufacturing plant in Danvers, Massachusetts.

1979: Millipore acquires Waters Associates Inc., a producer of chromatographic media and HPLC instrumentation.

Back to Top

1987: Millipore is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

1987: Millipore reaches the $500 million revenue milestone.

1988: Millipore opens a manufacturing plant in Cork, Ireland.

Back to Top

1994: Millipore divests its Waters Chromatography Division and focuses on its membrane business.

1996: Millipore acquires the Amicon separation sciences business from W.R. Grace and Co.

1997: Millipore acquires Tylan General, expanding its gas purification offerings for the microelectronics industry.

1999: Millipore acquires Bioprocessing Limited, a developer and manufacturer of chromatography.

Back to Top

2002: Millipore opens its Biopharmaceutical Technology Center in Billerica, Massachusetts – an innovative, customer-focused facility.

2005: Millipore acquires MicroSafe, a European contract testing laboratory.

2005: Millipore acquires NovAseptic, a worldwide supplier of aseptically designed components for biotech and pharmaceutical production.

2005: Millipore forms an alliance with Gen-Probe to develop, manufacture and commercialize products for rapid microbiological and virus monitoring.

2006: Millipore acquires Newport Bio Systems, a maker of process containers and systems used in biopharmaceutical production.

2006: Millipore acquires Serologicals Corporation (which includes the companies Chemicon, Upstate, Linco, and Celliance), expanding its drug discovery and development footprint.

2006: Millipore opens a new Research and Development Center in Bedford, Massachusetts.

2007: Millipore launches its new brand, signifying the company’s transformation as a Life Science leader.

2008: Millipore unveils a major expansion of its Drug Discovery and Development facility in St. Charles, Missouri.

2008: Millipore opens a new membrane casting manufacturing facility in Carrigtwohill, County Cork, Ireland.

2009: Millipore acquires Guava Technologies, a leading provider of bench top cell analysis systems.

2009: Millipore opens state-of-the-art Biomanufacturing Sciences and Training Center in Singapore.

2009: Millipore acquires BioAnaLab, a European-based firm specializing in the analysis of biologic drugs and vaccines.

Back to Top