Dr. Thomas Grogan was a practicing pathologist at the University of Arizona when he founded Ventana more than 20 years ago on the strength of his vision for automating the manual IHC staining process. In 1991, Ventana launched its first ground-breaking instrument and reagent system and went public in 1996 to raise capital to fund further research. Today, we’re a global organization providing healthcare professionals with superior automated instrument and reagent systems that standardize and speed slide staining in support of identifying treatment solutions that help people live better and longer lives.

Ventana’s first product was an instrument-reagent system designed to automate IHC staining. At the time, all IHC staining was performed manually, or via rudimentary automation. The Ventana system revolutionized the category and the Company has gone on to refine its systems culminating in the development of the “baking through staining” technology available on the BenchMark^® platform which won the Medical Design Excellence Gold Medal award in the In vitro Diagnostics category in 2001.

In 2006 Ventana launched the SYMPHONY^® system, its first, fully automated, one-touch H&E (Hematoxylin & Eosin) staining platform propelling the Company into the primary staining market and revolutionizing H&E slide preparation. In 2007 the SYMPHONY^® system won the Medical Design Excellence Gold Medal award in the in vitro Diagnostics category.

Ventana’s commitment to providing innovative instrument and reagent systems has resulted in the development of many other successful platforms including the DISCOVERY^® XT system, NexES^® Special Stainer, BenchMark^® XT system, VIAS™ (Ventana Image Analysis System), and most recently the SYMPHONY^® system.