Centocor

Subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, Centocor is a biotechnology company that was founded in Philadelphia in 1979 with an initial goal of developing new diagnostic assays using monoclonal antibody technology. In 1982 Centocor developed their first product approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) a diagnostic test used to detect the rabies virus, and in that same year transitioned into a publicly traded company. Subsequently, the company moved to a larger facility in Malvern, Pennsylvania (a northwest suburb of Philadelphia). In 1984, Centocor opened an overseas plant in Leiden, the Netherlands. Eighteen years after its foundation, (in 1997), Centocor achieved its first year of operating profitability. In 1998, Centocor divested itself of its diagnostic division and launched its top-selling monoclonal antibody Remicade (infliximab) for its first FDA approved indication in Crohns Disease. In 1999, Centocor became a wholly owned subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, the worl...