Bio-Rad Laboratories (TeSeE BSE/scrapie/CWD rapid test maker)

Bio-Rad is a large US life science and clinical diagnostics company, founded in Berkeley in 1952 and now headquartered in Hercules, California, listed as BIO on the NYSE. In the prion field it is known as the maker of the TeSeE rapid tests, ELISA-based screens for protease-resistant prion protein in brain tissue from cattle (BSE), sheep and goats (scrapie) and deer and elk (CWD). The test descends from work at the French atomic energy commission (CEA), whose Fontenay-aux-Roses group co-authored the 2001 paper and a 2005 review, while Bio-Rad developed, produced and sold the kit; this origin rests on search excerpts and on a CEA-authored review record. It was one of the three rapid tests the European Commission validated for BSE in 1999 and the US licensed it for BSE surveillance in 2004. Independent work later ranked its sensitivity for atypical BSE among the weakest of the EU-approved tests. TSE testing is a small, animal-health part of a business that is overwhelmingly diagnostics and research tools. Information only.

Key facts

  • Bio-Rad was founded in 1952 in Berkeley, California by David and Alice Schwartz and is headquartered in Hercules, California; it trades on the NYSE under BIO.
  • The company reports two segments, Life Science (about 40 percent of 2025 net sales) and Clinical Diagnostics (about 60 percent), and had about 7,450 employees at 31 December 2025.
  • Bio-Rad lists TeSeE purification plus ELISA kits for BSE in cattle, scrapie in sheep and goats and CWD in deer and elk, run on its TeSeE NSP system; a Short Assay Protocol shortens the ELISA by an hour.
  • The European Commission validated three rapid post-mortem BSE tests in 1999, from Prionics, Bio-Rad and Enfer; since 2002 such tests have also been used for scrapie in small ruminants.
  • Bio-Rad states that DG SANCO rated its bovine assay the most sensitive rapid BSE test in 1999 and approved the sheep and goat assays in 2005 (manufacturer claims).
  • Search excerpts indicate the TeSeE reagent was designed at the CEA and developed, produced and marketed by Bio-Rad, and that CEA and Bio-Rad scientists co-authored the 2001 Veterinary Record paper on the rapid test (unverified; pages not opened).
  • Bio-Rad announced on 18 March 2004, and USDA confirmed on 19 March 2004, a licence for TeSeE in expanded US BSE surveillance, to be used by the Ames national laboratory and a lab network.
  • In that announcement Bio-Rad claimed 4-hour results and over 22 million uses in Europe and Japan; these are company claims.
  • The Canadian Food Inspection Agency certified a new Alberta laboratory using the TeSeE ELISA in January 2004, with cervid CWD testing from 5 February 2004 and cattle BSE testing from 5 March 2004.
  • A 2012 peer-reviewed comparison of seven EU-approved rapid tests placed TeSeE SAP among the least sensitive for atypical and weak classical BSE, though all stayed within the 2 log10 window set by EFSA criteria.
  • The same study noted a loss of TeSeE sensitivity in Italian surveillance from 2004 to 2008 and said it is unclear whether kit batches played a part.
  • Product status is mixed: Bio-Rad's product page still lists 384 and 768-test TeSeE kits (limited regional availability), while a search summary reports the 192-test detection kit and purification kit marked discontinued; direct fetches of those pages failed.
  • The Bio-Rad TSE accessory page showed no discontinued wording when read.
  • The FY2025 Form 10-K text read (first 100,000 characters) names food safety testing among Life Science uses but does not mention BSE, prion or TSE.

Timeline

  1. 1952Bio-Rad founded in Berkeley, California.
  2. 1999European Commission validates three rapid BSE tests including Bio-Rad's.
  3. 2001Rapid post-mortem BSE test paper with CEA and Bio-Rad authors (Veterinary Record, per search excerpt).
  4. 2004Alberta TSE rapid test laboratory certified by CFIA, built around the TeSeE ELISA.
  5. 2004USDA licenses TeSeE for BSE surveillance (18 to 19 March).
  6. 2005DG SANCO approves TeSeE sheep and goat assays (manufacturer statement).
  7. 2012PLoS One comparison ranks TeSeE SAP among the least sensitive for atypical BSE.
  8. 2026FY2025 Form 10-K filed, listing about 7,450 employees at end 2025 (filing date taken from the accession number, not read).

Last checked 1 November 2026

Sources for this page