Taconic turns 60!

Taconic was founded in 1952 with a clear vision: to produce high quality innovative animal models that would help to advance health care through research. Continued family ownership and governance helps ensure that the vision of Robert K. Phelan and his wife, Sally Phelan Engelkirk, endures throughout this century and beyond.

A Look Back in Time:

1952: Swiss Webster mouse, the first mouse raised by Taconic.

1959: Taconic's built its third building, a fully air conditioned facility built to conform to the toughest standards.

1969: Taconic introduces the Sprague Dawley^® rat. This was also the year Taconic received its first full accreditation from AAALAC International.

1981: Taconic introduced the first Isolated Barrier Unit™ (IBU™), a revolutionary method of housing mice and rats in a totally germ-free and secure environment.

1985: Taconic Sprague Dawley^® rats were used for a NASA Space Science Shuttle mission.

1995: Taconic became the first provider of fully licensed transgenic and knockout animal models.

2002: Taconic expanded over seas and acquired M&B in Denmark and began a systematic effort to harmonize its products and services between the US and European operations. This was a crucial steps that allows Taconic to deliver international customers the same quality and service from either facility.

2007: Taconic becomes known for its custom generated "designer" mice after acquiring Artemis Pharmaceuticals in Cologne, Germany. This led to Taconic's invitation to the research community: "You design the study, we'll design the mouse."

2009: Taconic acquired Xenogen Biosciences, which gave the company the ability to better define its mouse models, thanks to Xenogen's advanced phenotyping platforms.

Today: Taconic has a total of 11 facilities worldwide, making us a leading provider of life sciences solutions to researchers worldwide, offering innovative animal models and scientific services that facilitate in vivo studies and advance drug discovery. Our solutions enable investigators to obtain reliable data early in the development cycle - reducing costs, accelerating time-to-market, and creating a strong competitive advantage.