| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Life Sciences Biotechnology |
| Founded | Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany (1945) |
| Headquarters | Hamburg, Germany |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Manual & Automatic Pipettes Centrifuges Liquid mixing, heating & cooling Consumables Microarrays Photometry Cell Technology |
| Revenue | €410.2 million (2008) |
| Operating income | €71.9 million (2008) |
| Employees | 2,500 (2009) |
| Subsidiaries | Eppendorf AG Eppendorf North America Eppendorf United Kingdom Eppendorf Italia Eppendorf Iberica Eppendorf Nordic Eppendorf China Eppendorf India Eppendorf South Asia Eppendorf Japan Eppendorf South America Eppendorf South Pacific |
| Website | http://www.eppendorf.com/ |
Eppendorf is a provider of equipment for the field of biotechnology. The company develops, produces and distributes devices and systems for use in life science research laboratories worldwide. Eppendorf was founded on the campus of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (Germany) in 1945 and has approximately 2,500 employees worldwide. The company operates subsidiaries in 20 countries and is represented in all other major markets by distributors.
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The product range includes pipettes, dispensers, mixers, and laboratory centrifuges as well as consumables such as micro test tubes, micro plates, and pipette tips. In addition, Eppendorf provides instruments and systems for cell manipulation, automated devices for liquid handling, as well as a broad range of equipment for DNA amplification (polymerase chain reaction). Independent of the brand, the 1.5 mL micro test tube is known as the “eppi” tube in most laboratories and has become a genericized trademark like Kleenex.
Eppendorf products can be found in academic and commercial research institutes as well as industrial companies in the field of biotechnology or in other sectors using biotech research processes. The main market is North America followed by West Europe and Asia.
The company was founded mid of 1945 by Dr. Hans Hinz and Dr. Heinrich Netheler. Dr. Heinrich Netheler was born on a farm in Northern Germany on May 27, 1909. Being the oldest son, he was supposed to take over the farm, but instead decided to study engineering in Brunswick. In Berlin, Dr. Netheler obtained his doctorate with a thesis on ways of optimizing rod antennas in aircraft. Hans Hinz, by contrast, was a true native of Hamburg. Born in the city’s Eimsbüttel district on August 19, 1909, he studied physics in his home town and obtained his doctorate with a thesis on elastic deformations in Seignette’s salt. The two men met in 1939 at the “German Experimental Institute for Aviation”. In 1943, they switched to the newly established “National High-Frequency Research Authority” in Travemuende.
After World War II, the two scientists started to establish a small company on the territory of the Hamburg Eppendorf University Hospital: the “Dr. Netheler Work Group”. The hospital management assigned Mr. Hinz and Mr. Netheler and their employees a shed on the grounds. The group consisted of twenty physicists and engineers, including their measuring instruments and research documentation. As a result of the demolition by allied bombing, most of the civil infrastructure had been destroyed. A shortage of medical equipment and many destroyed medical devices slowed down hospital work. The team repaired broken instruments and developed new devices at the physicians requests. Based on these requests, they developed the “Stimulator” (a stimulation current device), the “Thermorapid” (the first electric medical thermometer), the Eppendorf photometer, and a number of other pioneering devices of modern medical technology. By 1954, the shed had become too small. The company, meanwhile renamed “Netheler & Hinz GmbH”, moved to new premises outside the hospital area. Since 1965, the corporate headquarter building is located in the North of Hamburg. In 1962, the microliter system was introduced. This package included the first piston stroke pipette, small plastic-made tubes, and a centrifuge for these micro test tubes.
In the year 2000 Eppendorf converted to a corporation, gaining far-reaching control functions as a holding company with around 2,500 employees worldwide in 2010.
In 2007, Eppendorf acquired the US-based company New Brunswick Scientific Co., Inc (Edison, New Jersey).