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Harlan Laboratories and Huntingdon Life Sciences were two major players in the research animal industry. Harlan was founded in 1913 and Huntingdon in 1951. In 2015, they merged to create Envigo, a leading global provider of research animals and services.

In 2021, Inotiv acquired Envigo. Inotiv is a publicly traded company that provides a wide range of products and services to the life sciences industry. The acquisition of Envigo has made Inotiv a major player in the research animal industry.

To learn more about Inotiv's history, click here.

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Harlan
1931

Harlan is founded by Mr. Howard Harlan.

In the scientific community, his name and animal models become synonymous with high-quality laboratory animals. (Bldg. 202 in Cumberland, Indiana pictured)

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history-page-02
1951

Huntingdon Life Sciences is founded.

Started in Cambridgeshire, England, the organization is originally focused on nutrition, veterinary, and biochemical research.

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history-page-03
1961

Mr. Hal P. Harlan gets the keys to Harlan.

Hal, Howard Harlan's son, assumes responsibility for operations, overseeing approximately ten employees. The following year, Harlan becomes incorporated as Harlan Industries.

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history-page-05
1979

Harlan forms a business called Biotrol.

Biotrol provided entry into the immunological services sector. Today, this is recognized as Envigo Bioproducts. The same year, Spartan Research Animals in Haslett, Michigan was acquired.

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history-page-06
1980

GIBCO Animal Research Labs is acquired.

Based in Madison, Wisconsin, GIBCO included the following operations:

+ The former Sprague Dawley Company
+ The former A.R. Schmidt Company
+ Teklad Standard Diets
+ Teklad Custom Diets
+ Teklad Trucking

The name Teklad was derived from the previous owner, Thomas E. Kanickus, called TEK Lab Animal Diet. We changed it to TEKLAD to maintain the name recognition.

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history-page-44
1981

Introducing Harlan Sprague Dawley, Inc.

After Harlan Industries acquired GIBCO Animal Research Laboratories, it was renamed to reflect its acquisition of the former Sprague Dawley Company. This same year, M.A. Laboratory Animals of Walkersville, Maryland was purchased from the Whittaker Corporation in Whittier, California.

Sprague Dawley 
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history-page-07
1983

TIMCO is acquired.

TIMCO Breeding Laboratories in Houston, Texas was acquired from the Texas Medical Center.

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history-page-26
1984

Harlan makes double acquisition in Indiana.

Engle Laboratory Animals in Farmersburg, Indiana and Laboratory Supply Company, Inc. of Indianapolis, Indiana were acquired.

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history-page-29
1985

Harlan Bioproducts for Science, Inc. is established in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Harlan Bioproducts for Science, Inc. manufactured custom immunological and biological products and research services.

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World brand history map_OLAC
1985

Harlan purchases OLAC.

With the purchase of OLAC Limited of Oxfordshire, England, Harlan becomes an international corporation to supply models in countries including, but not limited to, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Israel.
Expanded into Europe with Oxford Laboratory Animal Center (OLAC) acquisition. Located in UK as Harlan Olac Limited.

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history-page-18
1985

Partial acquisition of antibody company Serotec.

Serotec was started by one of the founders of OLAC, Ed Bernard. This partial acquisition further expanded Harlan's immunological service offerings to include catalog antibodies.

Custom antibody production 
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history-page-southern-animal-farms
1986

Southern Animal Farms is acquired.

Based in Prattville, Alabama, Southern Animal Farms was purchased to support government institutions and universities in the Southeast United States. The Holtzman Company in Madison, Wisconsin, producer of the Holtzman albino rat, was also acquired.

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history-page-34
1986

Operations expand into the Netherlands.

The Central Institute for Breeding of Laboratory Animals (CPB) in the Netherlands was acquired to expand operations in continental Europe. Additionally, Harlan Sprague Dawley, Inc. expanded into the Netherlands. Large animals were also added to the range of stocks and strains.

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history-page-08
1988

Blue Spruce Farms is purchased.

Based in Altamont, New York, Blue Spruce Farms was known for producing the Long Evans outbred rat.

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history-page-guinea-pig-albino
1989

Our portfolio expands to include guinea pigs and rabbits.

In Europe, Porcellus Animal Breeding Limited in Heathfield, England and Riom Laboratories-CERM in Riom France were acquired by Harlan Olac Ltd. Porcellus also provided Harlan with a supply of guinea pigs throughout the UK and Europe. With these acquisitions, we also introduced rabbit production in the UK and a second canine colony in France.

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history-page-25
1989

Multiple acquisitions expand the business.

Premier Laboratory Diets in Bartonville, Illinois was purchased. Premier was the manufacturer of the well-known Wayne Diets. Twin City Testing, Kansas City Southwestern, Empire Soils, and Applied Biosciences International were also acquired.

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history-page-24
1990

New animal facility is constructed in Texas.

A new maximum barrier laboratory animal facility was constructed and opened in Houston, Texas.

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history-page-38
1992

Dominion Laboratories acquired.

The organization was based in Dublin, Virginia.

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history-page-39
1993

International expansion continues.

Harlan continues building an international presence with operations established in Germany, Italy, and Israel. In 1993, we entered a lease agreement with the Weizmann Institute and with the Hebrew University with two RMS facilities. Winkelmann Versuchstierzucht GmbH of Germany was also acquired in 1993.

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history-page-42
1994

Available stocks and strains increase.

Significant stock and strain expansion was accomplished through acquisitions from the Hannover Institute in Hannover, Germany and the TNO-REPGO Institute in Rijswijk, the Netherlands. The result was Harlan's inventory of research models increased to more than 240 stocks and strains including mice, rats, and hamsters.

Research models 
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history-page-27
1995

RMS work begins in Jerusalem.

Harlan also acquired Interfauna Group with facilities in UK, Germany, and Spain.

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history-page-17
1998

Harlan purchases Sera-Lab in the UK.

This allowed us to sell antibodies and other immunological products in Europe/globally. The business was moved to Hillcrest, which still operates under the Bioproducts banner. The following year, Harlan Bioservice for Science was formed in Walsrode, Germany.

Biological products and services 
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history-page-33
2004

RCC Ltd. in Switzerland was acquired.

This expanded contract research services for the pharmaceutical, chemical, and agrochemical industries in Europe and Asia.
Acquired RCC Ltd., a large contract research organization based in Switzerland. RCC has since expanded to India, Spain, and Germany.

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history-page-32
2005

Harlan Sprague Dawley, Inc. is acquired.

Acquired by Genstar Capital of San Francisco, California, Harlan Sprague Dawley, Inc. was purchased as a company in a growing, vital industry with continued growth opportunity.

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history-page-10
2007

SafePharm Laboratories is acquired.

The acquisition of Safepharm Laboratories in Shardlow, United Kingdom, allowed the expansion of contract research services into the chemical industries.

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history-page-11
2008

Harlan Laboratories brand is created.

The company united as Harlan Laboratories, Inc., with all legal entities initiating a name change to become one company with one vision to help our customers do research better.

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history-page-35
2008

Huntingdon Life Sciences establishes private ownership.

HLS provided preclinical and nonclinical biological safety evaluation research, eventually becoming the third largest non-clinical CRO in the world.

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SAGE Labs, Inc. creates the first knockout rat model.
2009

SAGE Labs, Inc. creates the first knockout rat model.

Science 2009 325 (5939):433

Explore GEMS 
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SAGE Labs, Inc.
2010

SAGE Labs, Inc. creates first six-month KO mouse.

Genetics 2010 186(2):451-2

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history-page-21
2011

SAGE Labs, Inc. creates the first knockin rat.

Nat Biotechnol 2011 29(1):64-7

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history-page-20
2013

SAGE Labs, Inc. creates first conditional KO rat.

Nat Methods 2013 10(7):638-4

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history-page-14
2015

The Envigo name and brand is born.

Harlan Laboratories and Huntingdon Life Sciences merge to create the Envigo brand and name.

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history-page-19
2019

Envigo acquires research models business unit from Horizon.

Envigo's acquisition of Horizon's (formerly SAGE Labs, Inc.) research models business unit broadened our product and service offerings to include custom model generation and genetically engineered models and services.

Explore GEMS 
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Inotiv_Timeline-Graphics_Envigo
2021

Inotiv acquires Envigo.

Inotiv acquires Envigo RMS Holding Corp. (Envigo), a leading global provider of research models and services.

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