OraSure Technologies

The story of OraSure Technologies isn't about one company, but two. It begins in 1988 when Sam Niedbala and Mike Gausling co-founded a business called SolarCare Technologies. Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, a company named Epitope was going public in 1986 to fund AIDS research. Epitope was focused on a groundbreaking idea: developing diagnostic tests using oral fluid instead of blood. In 1989, Epitope announced its oral fluid collection technology, which it called "OraSure." After a long process, the FDA approved the OraSure device in 1994 for detecting HIV antibodies, marking it as the first of its kind. The real turning point came in 2000, when Epitope and the company now known as STC Technologies—the evolution of that original SolarCare business—merged in an all-stock deal. This merger created the company known today as OraSure Technologies, a public entity traded on NASDAQ under the ticker OSUR. A major milestone occurred in 2012 when the FDA approved the OraQuick In-Home HIV Test, revolutionizing access to testing. This established the company's core playbook: creating simple, accessible diagnostic tools. Over the years, OraSure expanded its portfolio, developing rapid tests for other infectious diseases like Hepatitis C and Ebola, and later, at-home COVID-19 tests. The company has continued to grow through strategic acquisitions, such as DNA Genotek in 2011 and Sherlock Biosciences in 2024, to strengthen its leadership in sample collection and molecular diagnostics.