Institut Pourquier History
1870Pierre Pourquier, a veterinarian in Montpellier, France began doing research on sheep diseases in 1870, particularly on sheep pox. He defined allergy as a clinical entity long before Clemens von Pirquet. In 1878, he founded the Institut Vaccinal Pourquier. He contributed to the fight against smallpox by supplying lymph vaccine to vaccinators. For more than a century, the Institut Vaccinal Pourquier devoted its work to smallpox. The Institut Vaccinal Pourquier was one of the first to produce a lyophilized vaccine against smallpox, which was used worldwide and contributed to the World Health Organization’s successful campaign to eradicate smallpox. 1970From 1970 onwards, in collaboration with the Centre des Références des Brucelloses (Faculté de Médecine de Montpellier), Institut Pourquier expanded its activities by developing a range of diagnostic reagents and vaccines against brucellosis. 1980With the definitive suppression of smallpox by vaccination in 1984, the Institut Pourquier moved its activity towards the production of veterinary diagnostic reagents based on enzootic bovine leucosis and brucellosis eradication programs set by the EEC. 1990Because of its products, the Institut Pourquier moved to the Euromédecine science park, thus expanding its facilities and allowing for further development of its range of tests against pathologically infectious agents, with particular emphasis on livestock. 2000The Institut Pourquier continued to grow by distributing its products via commercial partners throughout the world. In addition, its facilities were modernized with more than 32,000 square feet of laboratories. 2007Institut Pourquier became a subsidiary of IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. |     |