History
In 1961 Lancaster Laboratories was founded by Dr. Earl H. Hess to provide high quality analytical services to area agribusinesses and industries with personal attention to client needs. Nourished in a culture of quality, service, and caring about all those associated with the business, the company became an industry leader known for innovative business practices and people-friendly policies.

Within the laboratory community, Lancaster Laboratories has pioneered many significant accomplishments. For example, the company:
was a charter member of, and the first laboratory accredited by the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation
prepared the first qualifications manual in the lab industry and implemented a total quality management system in 1989
pioneered computerized laboratory information management systems in the '70s and designed a model automated system for retrieval and storage of samples—the only laboratory to have such a system
initiated innovative and nationally recognized family friendly workforce polices; including development of an on-site family center with child-care, adult-day-care and fitness centers. (The company has been on Working Mother magazine's list of "Best Companies for Working Mothers" 11 times since 1989.)
expanded 10 times, growing from a 2,500-square-foot lab with three employees in 1961 to its present size of 175,000-square-feet with more than 800 employees
became one of the largest commercial contract labs in the US, providing analytical services in environmental and pharmaceutical sciences to clients worldwide
At Dr. Hess's retirement in 1995, Lancaster Laboratories was acquired by Thermo TerraTech, a Thermo Electron Company. In 2000, private investment firm Goldner Hawn Johnson & Morrison (GHJM) purchased the company and in August 2005, sold it to Fisher Scientific International Inc., a publicly held company that's been a world leader in serving science for more than 100 years. In November 2006, Fisher Scientic International merged with Therrmo Electron Corporation to form Thermo Fisher Scientific (www.thermofisher.com), the world leader in serving science. In 2007 Lancaster Laboratories acquired Microchem Laboratories, one of Ireland's leading testing and research laboratories. Today, operating as Lancaster Laboratories, Inc., the company provides pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and environmental analytical services with uncompromising quality and superlative service, just as it has for more than four decades.