Background
1870 > Pierre POURQUIER, veterinary surgeon in Montpellier, began doing research on sheep diseases in 1870, particularly on sheep-pox. He defined allergy long before Von Pirquet In 1878, he founded the Vaccinal Institut Pourquier. He was involved in the fight against smallpox by sending vaccinal lymph to the vaccinators. For more than a century, the vaccinal Institut Pourquier devoted its work to smallpox; the Institut was one of the first to produce a lyophilized vaccine against smallpox, which was used worldwide and contributed to the successful campaign to eradicate smallpox carried out by the World Health Organization.
1970 > From the 1970’s onwards, in collaboration with the Centre des Réferences des Brucelloses (Brucellosis Reference Center) based in Montpellier, Institut Pourquier expanded its activities by developing a range of diagnostic reagents and vaccines to brucellosis.
1980 > With the definitive suppression of the smallpox vaccination in 1984, Institut Pourquier moves its activity towards the production of veterinary diagnostic reagents based on Enzootic Bovine Leukosis and Brucellosis eradication programs set by the EEC.
1990 > Due to the success of its products, Institut Pourquier moved to the scientific park "Euromedecine" thus extending its premises and going on to develop its range of tests against pathologically infectious agents, with particular emphasis on livestock.
2000 > The Institut keeps on growing by distributing its products from commercial partners throughout the world. In addition, its premises have been modernised with 3 000 m² of laboratories.
2007 > Institut Pourquier becomes a subsidiairy of IDEXX Laboratories
