About Harvard Bioscience

Harvard Bioscience, Inc. operates as a developer, manufacturer and seller of technologies, products and services that enable fundamental advances in life science applications, including research, pharmaceutical and therapy discovery, bio-production and preclinical testing for pharmaceutical and therapy development. The company’s products and services are sold globally to customers ranging from renowned academic institutions and government laboratories to the world’s leading pharmaceutical, biotechnology and contract research organizations. With operations in North America, Europe and China, the company sells through a combination of direct and distribution channels to customers around the world. Products The company’s products and services enable fundamental advances in life science applications, including research, pharmaceutical and therapy discovery, bio-production and preclinical testing. The company has organized its product line activities into two product families, cellular and molecular technology (CMT) and Preclinical. The company’s CMT product family is primarily composed of products supporting research related to molecular, cellular organ and organoid technologies, with additional application in the emerging field of bio-production of pharmaceuticals and therapeutics. The principal customers for the company’s CMT products include academic and government laboratories, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, and contract research organizations. The company’s Preclinical product family includes four business lines that support the preclinical research and testing phase for drug development, and in particular testing related to data collection and analysis for safety and regulatory compliance. Preclinical products are primarily sold to pharmaceutical, biotechnology and contract research organizations, as well as larger academic labs. The company sells its products under several brand names, including Harvard Apparatus, DSI, Buxco, Biochrom, BTX, Heka, Hugo Sachs, Multichannel Systems MCS GmbH (MCS), and Panlab. The company’s solutions range from simple to complex, and generally consist of hardware/firmware and software products, augmented with consumables, options, upgrades and post-sales (scientific, installation and data) services. The company’s products include spectrophotometers that analyze light to detect and quantify a wide range of molecules, as well as cell analysis and electroporation and electrofusion systems to influence and/or analyze cellular processes. Other products and services focus on tissue and organ responses to new drugs and encompass wireless monitors, and signal acquisition and analysis functionality. The company also features products that monitor physiological processes in living organisms to study behavior. Many of the company’s proprietary products are leaders in their fields. In addition to its proprietarily manufactured products, the company distributes products developed by other manufacturers. Resale of such products enables the company to act as a single source for its customers’ research needs. They consist of a large variety of complementing instruments or accessories, as well as consumables used in experiments involving fluid handling, molecular and cell analysis and tissue, organ and animal research. Cellular and Molecular Technologies Product Family The company’s CMT product family includes products designed primarily to support the discovery phase of new drug development. CMT products include high precision syringe and peristaltic infusion pump product lines; electroporation and electrofusion instruments, amino acid analyzers, spectrophotometers, and other equipment which primarily support molecular level testing and research; and precision scientific measuring instrumentation and equipment in the field of electrophysiology, such as data acquisition systems with custom amplifier configurations for cellular analysis, complete micro electrode array solutions for in vivo recordings and in vitro systems for extracellular recordings. Preclinical Product Family The company’s Preclinical product family provides a complete platform to assess physiological data from organisms for research ranging from basic research to drug discovery, and drug development services. The Preclinical product family consists of the DSI (Data Sciences International, Inc.) and Buxco brands. It includes implantable and externally worn telemetry systems, which are commonly used in research to collect cardiovascular, central nervous system, respiratory, metabolic data; behavioral products; isolated organ and surgical products, a broad range of instruments and accessories for tissue, organ-based lab research, including surgical products, infusion systems, and behavior research systems; turn-key respiratory system solutions encompassing plethysmograph chambers, data acquisition hardware, physiological signal analysis software, and final report generation; inhalation and exposure systems providing precise, homogenous aerosol delivery for up to 42 subjects, while integrating respiratory parameters for the ultimate delivered dose system; and powerful GLP-capable data acquisition and analysis systems, capable of integrating third party sensors for a more comprehensive study design. Customers The company’s end-user customers are primarily research scientists at pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, universities, hospitals, government laboratories, including the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH), and contract research organizations (CROs). The company’s pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers have included pharmaceutical companies and research laboratories, such as Pfizer; Amgen, Inc.; AstraZeneca plc; Genentech, Inc.; and Johnson & Johnson. The company’s academic customers include major colleges and universities, including Harvard University, Cambridge University, Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale University, the University of California system, Baylor College of Medicine, and the University of Texas and Imperial College London. The company’s CRO customers include Labcorp, Charles River Laboratories and Wuxi AppTec. Sales The company conducts direct sales in the United States, China and major European markets. The company sells primarily through distributors in other countries. For the year ended December 31, 2022, revenues from direct sales to end-users represented approximately 63% of the company’s revenues; and revenues from sales of the company’s products through distributors represented approximately 37% of its revenues. Direct Sales The company has a global sales organization managing both direct sales and distributors. The company’s websites and marketing collateral serve as the primary sales tool for its product lines, which includes both proprietary manufactured products and complementary products from various suppliers. Sales through Distributors The company engages distributors for the sales of its own branded and private label products in certain areas of the world and for certain product lines. Marketing The company has a centralized marketing group, which encompasses product management, and market communications. Marketing maintains value-proposition based product roadmaps, collaborates with research and development on timing and investment for new products, supports direct and distributor sales activities, sets the global pricing of the company’s products and conceives the storylines on how to sell its products. Marketing also maintains digital presence across the web and social media platforms, creates electronic leads and analyzes opportunities for new product portfolio extensions. Research and Development The company’s research and development expenses were approximately $12.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The company plans to continue to pursue a balanced development portfolio strategy of originating new products from internal research and acquiring products and technologies through business and technology acquisitions or collaborations, as appropriate. Competition The company competes with several companies that provide instruments for life science research, including Lonza Group Ltd.; Becton Dickinson; Eppendorf AG; Kent Scientific Corporation; Danaher Corporation; Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc.; PerkinElmer, Inc.; Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.; Instem plc; Emka Technologies; and TSE Systems. Seasonality Sales and earnings in the company’s third quarter (year ended December 2022) are usually flat or down from the second quarter primarily because there are a large number of holidays and vacations during such quarter, especially in Europe. The company’s fourth quarter revenues and earnings are often the highest in any fiscal year compared to the other three quarters, primarily because many of its customers tend to spend budgeted money before their own fiscal year ends. Intellectual Property Harvard is a registered trademark of Harvard University. The marks Harvard Apparatus and Harvard Bioscience are being used pursuant to a license agreement entered into in December 2002 between the company and Harvard University. History Harvard Bioscience, Inc. was founded in 1901. The company was incorporated in the state of Delaware in 2000.