1990 saw the founding of the multinational Leica Group, which united the rich tradition of the brand names Wild, Leitz, Kern, Reichert, Jung and Cambridge Instruments under one roof. The microtomy business was consolidated in Nussloch and is today run under the name of Leica Biosystems Nussloch GmbH as a business unit of Leica Microsystems Holdings GmbH located in Wetzlar, Germany.

The Leica Microsystems Group was acquired by the Danaher Corporation in summer 2005 to form an integral part of and to reinforce Danaher’s Medical Technology Platform.

After Danaher Corporation (Washington D.C.) acquired more than 99% of the shares of the then listed Vision Systems Ltd. (Melbourne, Australia) in January 2007, Leica Microsystems (Wetzlar, Germany), another company of Danaher’s Medical Technologies platform, started integrating Vision BioSystems with its own Sectioning and Specimen Processing business, to form a new division of Leica Microsystems. The Biosystems Division operates alongside Leica Microsystems’ other three customer segmented divisions that serve Industrial, Life Science Research, and Surgical customers.

Combining the product ranges of the two former businesses creates the most comprehensive product portfolio for histo-pathology in the market. Leica Microsystems’ Biosystems Division is the only source to offer instruments for the entire histo-pathology process, as well as the Novocastra range of antibodies and reagents. The key focus of the division is to develop innovative, automated systems to improve productivity and enhance quality for customers.

The existing product factories in Melbourne, Australia and Newcastle, UK, together with the German site in Nussloch continue manufacturing for the division.