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Clinicon's history
The company has long been involved in the development and production of automatic analytical instruments in clinical chemistry.
The instrument development was initiated by doctors Gunnar and Ingemar Jungner. Their ideas were developed during the 60s by a division within AGA AB (Autochem Instrument AB), The first instrument, called Auto-Chemist, was installed in Sweden in 1968 and then sales continued in Europe, Japan and the USA. A large laboratory in the USA bought the last Auto-chemist in 1979.
In 1978 LKB made the decision not to invest in clinical chemistry and therefore sold its interests in this field to Boehringer-Mannheim, a large West German reagent and pharmaceutical company. An independent company, named Clinicon, was formed.
After an interlude with an English owner, New Clinicon was born in the autumn of 1984 as a completely new Swedish-owned company, backed by two large Swedish banks and retaining many key personnel from the days of AutoChemist.
The last Prisman in 1995 was shut down in Belfast City Hospital after almost 10 years of operation.
The next instrument, Prisma grew out of the earlier experiences of AutoChemist. The development started in the early 70s. The first instrument was installed at the Central Hospital in Västerås in 1978. This was followed by a number of installations in Europe and the USA.
In 1975, Autochem Instrument AB was sold to LKB Produkter AB, a large Swedish company manufacturing research instruments. LKB integrated Prisma into its clinical instruments division (which included the well-known 8600 reaction rate analyzer).