Our history

A tradition of quality for over 145 years

The history of Sakura Finetek goes back to 1871, the early Meiji era in Japan. Prior to 1870, the company was called Iwashiya, and it manufactured and sold pharmaceuticals throughout Japan. The medical equipment division of Iwashiya was formed in 1871, and by 1887, the trademark Sakura (literally, “cherry blossom”) was registered. Since then, the company has been manufacturing a variety of medical equipment including the first Japanese microscope. In 1962, the company name was changed to Sakura Finetechnical Company, Ltd.

Sakura Finetek USA, Inc. was established in the United States in 1986. The company acquired the histology and cytology product lines of Miles, Inc. in 1994. And by 1998, construction of its state-of-the-art research and manufacturing center was added in Torrance, California. In 2015, Sakura acquired Genemed Biotechnologies (previously Zymed) in South San Francisco as the core of its Advanced Staining business.  Genemed manufactures antibodies, probes, detection systems, reagents for immunohistochemistry and in-situ hybridization diagnostic tests.  Genemed is an FDA Registered manufacturing facility and is an ISO 13485 certified manufacturer and supplier. The tradition of Sakura Finetek Tissue-Tek^® excellence continues – highest quality products at a reasonable price. A name that stands for nothing less than the best in histopathology and cytology. The name that appears on more products, in more pathology laboratories, worldwide.

Over the years several product lines have grown the portfolio in histology, cytology and advanced staining.  Several product families have changed how laboratories are working and achieving better and faster results today supporting the standardization in pathology: Tissue-Tek VIP^®, Tissue-Tek Xpress^®, Tissue-Tek AutoTEC^®, Tissue-Tek^® Cryo₃^®, Tissue-Tek Prisma^® and Tissue-Tek Film^®, Accu-Edge^® Blade Systems, Tissue-Tek^® Paraform^® Sectioning System, Tissue-Tek^® Uni-Cassette^®, VisionTek^® and most recently the Tissue-Tek Genie^® Advanced Staining System.

These innovative products dramatically reduce specimen turnaround times while providing unparalleled quality.

Expect more exciting products from Sakura Finetek for many years to come.

Iwashiya

<1870

Iwashiya Medical Equipment Division

1871

Sakura Trademark Registered

1887

First Microscope for Japanese Market Prior to Nikon, Olympus

1914

Sakura Fintechnical LTD.

1962

Uni-cassette: First Disposable Tissue Cassette

1972

Tissue-Tek Line

VIP:

1979

First Fully enclosed tissue processor

Sakura Finetek USA, Inc.

1986

SCA Coverslipper:

1987

First automated film coverslipper

Acquired Miles, Inc. Histology and Cytology

1994

Xpress Tissue Processor:

2004

First Rapid System (Offering lean workflow, same day DX)

AutoTEC:

2008

First automated embedding system (still only one on market)

Smartsection:

2015

First fully automated microtome

Acquired Genemed Biotech

2015

Genie Advanced Staining system

2016