Ron Zwanziger Explained

Ron Zwanziger (born 1954) is an American businessman.[1] He is best known for founding and leading the diagnostic test manufacturer Alere.

Early life and education

Zwanziger was born in Israel in 1954 and raised on the island of Cyprus after 1956.[2] [3]

He earned an engineering degree from Imperial College London in 1975 and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1981.[4]

Career

Medisense (1981-1991)

Along with three business school classmates, Zwanziger co-founded Medisense Inc., a maker of glucose meters used in diabetes home care, in 1981.[5] [2] He was CEO until 1991.[2]

Originally, the company worked on 13 disparate biotechnology ideas, hoping one or another would pay off. By 1984, the company had narrowed its focus to one of the projects, which concerned electrochemical biosensors.

In 1987, Medisense introduced the ExacTech, which was the first electrochemical biosensor-based glucose meter for home use.[6] This technology required less blood to obtain a reading, and by 2008 was used in a majority of the 6 billion home blood glucose tests being performed annually. In his textbook on electrochemistry, Alan Bond of Monash University suggests that the commercial success of electrochemical home glucose monitoring "predominantly can be attributed to the introduction of the ExacTech system."[7]

Medisense was acquired by Abbott Laboratories in 1996 for $876 million.[8]

Alere (1991-2014)

Zwanziger founded Alere Inc. (then called Selfcare Inc.),[9] [4] a diagnostic test manufacturer, in 1991.[2] He was CEO until 2014.[10] [11] [12]

Alere's diabetes unit was sold to Johnson and Johnson (LifeScan) in 2001 for $1.3 billion.[13] [9] With the 2001 acquisition of the subsidiary Unipath from Unilever, Alere became the leading manufacturer of ovulation and pregnancy tests. Alere acquired Biosite Inc. in a $1.7 billion hostile takeover in 2007.[14] By 2012, Alere was the largest manufacturer in the HIV testing space, according to the nonprofit Population Services International.[15]

Abbott acquired Alere in 2017 for $5.3 billion.[16] [9]

LumiraDx (2014-2023)

Along with longtime partners Drs. David Scott and Jerry McAleer, Zwanziger co-founded the diagnostic test manufacturer LumiraDx in 2014.[17] He was CEO until November 2023, when all three founders resigned amid "financial difficulties" at the company.[18] On December 29, 2023, LumiraDx reached a $350 million agreement to sell its key assets to Roche Diagnostics.[19]

LumiraDx produces several rapid diagnostic tests which are read by a single brick-sized device at the point of care. A 2021 presentation by Bill Gates hailed the LumiraDx platform as "amazing" and "cheaper and smaller than the diagnostic devices that came before."[20] A 2021 meta-analysis of 133 studies showed that LumiraDx's COVID-19 rapid antigen test had the highest sensitivity among 61 products.[21]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Douglas . Craig M. . Boston's barbarian? . Boston Business Journal . 11 August 2008 . 28 December 2017 . Sign In Required.
  2. Pederson . Jay . Grant . Tina . Inverness Medical Innovations, Inc. . International Directory of Company Histories. St. James Press . 2004 . 5 June 2020.
  3. Book: Isenberg . Daniel . Inverness Medical Innovations--Born Global (A) . 2006 . Harvard Business School Publishing .
  4. Web site: Ron Zwanziger: Executive Profile & Biography . Bloomberg . May 11, 2001 . December 28, 2017.
  5. Book: Worthless, Impossible and Stupid: How Contrarian Entrepreneurs Create and Capture Extraordinary Value . Harvard Business Review Press . 2013 . 978-1-4221-8699-2 . December 28, 2017 . 25.
  6. Heller . Adam . Feldman . Ben . Electrochemical Glucose Sensors and Their Applications in Diabetes Management . Chemical Reviews . 2008 . 108 . 7 . 2482–2505 . 10.1021/cr068069y . 18465900 .
  7. Book: Bond . Alan . Broadening Electrochemical Horizons: Principles and Illustration of Voltammetric and Related Techniques . 2002 . Oxford University Press.
  8. Web site: Abbott Laboratories to Buy Medisense for $876 Million. 30 March 1996. The New York Times. 28 December 2017.
  9. Web site: Cyran . Robert . Strategy of Alere Board Paid Off With Buyout by Abbott . The New York Times . January 1, 2016 . December 28, 2017.
  10. Web site: Alere chief executive Ron Zwanziger resigns, effective immediately - The Boston Globe. bostonglobe.com. 28 December 2017.
  11. Web site: Alere Inc. CEO Zwanziger, Other Top Executives Resign In Overhaul . BioSpace . July 2, 2014 . December 28, 2017.
  12. Web site: Alere's' Ex-CEO plans $3.82 billion offer for health company . www.ohio.com . December 28, 2017 . December 28, 2017.
  13. Web site: J&J acquires Inverness unit - May 23, 2001. money.cnn.com. 28 December 2017.
  14. Web site: Inverness wins Biosite with bid of $1.68 billion. sandiegouniontribune.com. 1 January 2018.
  15. News: Actress, Activist and PSI Ambassador Debra Messing and HRH Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway Present 2012 Impact Awards . 4 July 2020 . . PRWeb . 26 July 2012.
  16. Web site: Abbott's Inviting New Allure. Out of. Ignorance. 27 October 2017. seekingalpha.com. 28 December 2017.
  17. Web site: Who We Are . LumiraDx . 12 May 2020.
  18. Web site: QuotedData's morning briefing 2 November 2023 . QuotedData . 2 November 2023 . 21 November 2023.
  19. Web site: Mirasol . Feliza . Roche to Acquire Point-of-Care Technology from LumiraDx in $350 Million Deal . BioPharm International . 22 January 2024 . en . 4 January 2024.
  20. Web site: Gates . Bill . New tools for COVID testing . YouTube . 22 January 2024 . en.
  21. Brümmer . Lukas E. . Katzenschlager . Stephan . Gaeddert . Mary . Erdmann . Christian . Schmitz . Stephani . Bota . Marc . Grilli . Maurizio . Larmann . Jan . Weigand . Markus A. . Pollock . Nira R. . Macé . Aurélien . Carmona . Sergio . Ongarello . Stefano . Sacks . Jilian A. . Denkinger . Claudia M. . Accuracy of novel antigen rapid diagnostics for SARS-CoV-2: A living systematic review and meta-analysis . PLOS Medicine . 12 August 2021 . 18 . 8 . e1003735 . 10.1371/journal.pmed.1003735 . 34383750 . 8389849 . en . 1549-1676 . free .

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