Amersham plc

Amersham plc was a UK pharmaceutical company, specializing in medical diagnostics and life science products.

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The company was formed in 1982 under the name Amersham International plc. The company had its roots from a national center set up in 1946 for the development and manufacture of radioactive materials for peacetime uses in medicine, scientific research and industry, and was the first company to be privitised by the Thatcher government.

In 1997 Pharmacia Biotech (Sweden) was acquired. The same year the company merged with Nycomed (Norway) to form Nycomed Amersham plc. In 2001 the company name was changed to Amersham plc.

In 2004, Amersham plc was acquired by the American firm General Electric (GE) and incorporated into the GE Healthcare business segment. Amersham plc's former business segments have become two business segments of GE Healthcare: GE Healthcare Medical Diagnostics and GE Healthcare Life Sciences, respectively.

The global headquarters of GE Healthcare is situated in Chalfont St. Giles (near the market town of Amersham, hence the name), Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom, and, as such, is the first GE business unit headquarters to be situated outside the United States.