Producer
Cytiva (Danaher Corporation)
Life sciences tools and services business of Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR); formed from the 2019 GE Healthcare Life Sciences acquisition; produces Vivid® lateral flow nitrocellulose membranes (formerly Whatman/GE brand); market leader in lateral flow assay membranes for diagnostics; also owns the Pall filtration business; Cytiva Vivid membranes are the reference standard used in most FDA-cleared lateral flow diagnostic assays including COVID-19, pregnancy tests, and flu diagnostics; Marlborough MA headquarters
3
Inputs supplied
1
Goods downstream
2
Facilities
0
Stories
What they make
3 inputs Cytiva (Danaher Corporation) supplies
Click an input to see every good that depends on it, every country that produces it, and every other company in the supply chain.
manufactured
Glass Fiber Conjugate Pads & Borosilicate Fiber Membranes →
manufactured
Nitrocellulose (NC) Membrane for Lateral Flow →
chemical
Sole supplierFluorescent Reporter Dyes & Oligonucleotide Probes →
Where it shows up
Goods downstream
Essential goods that depend on something Cytiva (Danaher Corporation) makes — pick one to see the full supply chain.
Where they make it
2 facilities
Cytiva Little Chalfont UK (Historic Amersham Site) →
GBBuckinghamshire · processing
Original Amersham Biosciences site (GE Healthcare Life Sciences → Cytiva); birthplace of the Cy3/Cy5 CyDye fluorescent nucleotide product line; Cytiva holds the Cy and CyDye trademarks; commercial diagnostic manufacturers must obtain a separate trademark license from Cytiva to name their products Cy3/Cy5; nucleotide labeling hub serving genomics and FISH diagnostic markets
Cytiva Whatman Maidstone UK Membrane Plant →
GBKent · processing
Historic Whatman nitrocellulose membrane manufacturing site in Maidstone, Kent; Whatman was acquired by GE Healthcare then Danaher/Cytiva; produces Vivid lateral flow NC membranes that are the reference standard in diagnostic assay development; key UK production asset supplying European and global markets
What else they do
Business segments
The company's full revenue map — where this supply-chain role fits within their broader business.
Lateral Flow Nitrocellulose Membranes (Vivid/Whatman)
30%Pall Filtration (Industrial & Pharmaceutical)
35%Bioprocessing Tools & Resins
25%Cell Biology & Analytical
10%
Intelligence
What's known
Sourced claims about this company's role in supply chains — chokepoints, concentration, incidents, dual-use connections.
Chokepoint2023
Cytiva (formerly Amersham Biosciences → GE Healthcare Life Sciences) holds the Cy and CyDye trademarks and requires a separate commercial license agreement for any company selling diagnostic products that use the "Cy3" or "Cy5" name. This is not a raw material chokepoint — cyanine dye chemistry is not patent-protected — but a trademark chokepoint: an IVD manufacturer using the Cy3 or Cy5 names without a Cytiva license faces trademark infringement liability. There is no equivalent trademark chokepoint for any other major diagnostic dye: FAM, HEX, ROX, and ATTO dyes have no equivalent licensing requirement.
Cytiva Life Sciences ↗Origin2023
The Whatman brand of filter papers and membranes traces to James Whatman, a British papermaker who developed a new grade of filter paper in Kent, England around 1740 -- 'wove' paper with uniform porosity created by a new weave mold design. Whatman filter papers became the standard for laboratory chemistry worldwide for 280 years. The Whatman company was eventually acquired by GE Healthcare Life Sciences, then Danaher acquired GE Healthcare Life Sciences and renamed the combined entity Cytiva. The Whatman lateral flow nitrocellulose membrane -- developed decades after the original filter paper -- became the substrate used in virtually all home and point-of-care rapid diagnostic tests. The same brand established in an 18th century Kent paper mill is now the reference standard for the COVID-19 antigen test strips manufactured by hundreds of companies globally, all using Cytiva/Whatman Vivid membranes as the foundation. When COVID created explosive demand for rapid antigen tests in 2020-2021, the global supply of lateral flow nitrocellulose membranes (dominated by Cytiva) became one of the limiting factors for diagnostic test production.
Cytiva (Danaher) ↗