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Harvard Bioscience was founded in 1901 by Dr. William T. Porter of Harvard Medical School. He began manufacturing his own physiology teaching equipment in the basement of the Harvard Medical School. Dr. Porter went on to found the American Journal of Physiology and became one of the leading physiologists of his day.
The company invented the mechanical syringe pump in the 1950s and a computer-controlled dosing pump in the 1980s.
In the early 1980s, the company started using the name Harvard Bioscience; the name was not officially changed to Harvard Bioscience, Inc. until 2000. The company completed their initial public offering on December 7, 2000. The names Harvard Apparatus and Harvard Bioscience are used pursuant to a license agreement between Harvard University and Harvard Bioscience, Inc.
From 1996 to 2005 the company completed 17 business acquisitions, including the BTX division acquisition in 2003.
In 2007 the company sold most of its Capital Equipment Business, including its Genomic Solutions division and its Belgian subsidiary, Maia Scientific.
The company spun off Harvard Apparatus Regenerative Technology, Inc. (HART) in 2013 and Jeff Duchemin became CEO in August 2013.
In 2014 the company acquired Multi Channel Systems MCS GmbH (MCS) and Triangle BioSystems, Inc. (TBSI).
In 2015 the company acquired HEKA Electronik of Germany.
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In 2016 the company divested AHN Biotechnologie GmbH, which it acquired in 2012.
In 2018 Harvard Bioscience acquired St. Paul, Minnesota-based Data Sciences International for $71 million and sold its Denville Scientific subsidiary to Thomas Scientific for $20 million.
James Green was named President and CEO in July 2019 and the company's performance declined during the latter half of his six-year tenure. In 2019, the company's gross revenue was $116 million, down from $120.7 million in 2018. The company ended the year with $55 million in loans, down from $62.4 million in loans at the end of 2018. Loans were through Cerberus Capital and were subsequently refinanced in 2020 with a syndicate led by Citizens Financial Group. In September 2019 the company announced a restructuring program, including closing their Connecticut operation, downsizing in the United Kingdom, and a reduction in force of over 10% of headcount. Several additional restructurings were implemented from 2020 to 2024.
For approximately nine months in 2019-2020 the company had an activist investor in its stock, Engine Capital.
In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Harvard Bioscience received $6.1 million in federally backed small business loans from PNC Bank as part of the Paycheck Protection Program. The company promptly repaid this loan after receiving scrutiny related to it.
In the of summer of 2025 the board of directors of Harvard Bioscience was reconstituted and a new CEO was appointed and in December 2025 the company successfully refinanced its debt, obtaining a $40 million credit facility with BroadOak Capital.
From Wikipedia’s article on Harvard Bioscience, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.7