Sartorius

What Sartorius does

Sartorius AG is a German publicly traded life science group (Xetra: SRT3) headquartered in Göttingen, with a 155-year operating history dating to its 1870 founding as a precision mechanical workshop. The company serves the biopharmaceutical industry through two divisions: Bioprocess Solutions, the larger segment providing single-use bioreactors (Biostat STR, Ambr), filtration and chromatography consumables (Flexsafe bags, Sartobind membrane chromatography, Sartoclear clarification, Vivaflow tangential flow filtration), cell culture media and reagents, and process analytical technology (BioPAT, Biobrain MES); and Lab Products & Services, supplying laboratory balances (Cubis), electronic pipettes (Picus), and microtissue/in vitro testing solutions. Customers are primarily biopharmaceutical manufacturers developing and producing monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, cell therapies, and gene therapies, with secondary demand from academic and contract research organizations and pharmaceutical quality control laboratories.

The business model combines capital equipment sales with a high-recurring consumables stream (filters, single-use bags, culture media, reagents) and technical services including virus clearance validation. Sartorius sells primarily through direct enterprise field sales targeting key biopharma accounts, supported by a proprietary e-commerce storefront and distributor networks for lab products, reaching customers in more than 35 countries. The portfolio has been materially expanded through acquisitions, including Albumedix (recombinant albumin, 2022, £415 million), Polyplus (transfection reagents and nucleic acid delivery, 2023, financed by a €3 billion bond placement), and MatTek (in vitro tissue models, 2025), with continued capacity investments in cell and gene therapy manufacturing (€140 million Freiburg center opened 2025). The company employs approximately 14,000 people globally and reported fiscal year 2025 sales revenue of approximately €3.5 billion.

From an investment perspective, Sartorius's franchise is anchored by a deep patent portfolio covering bioreactors, single-use bags, BLI biosensors, flow cytometry, and live-cell imaging systems, combined with regulatory validation across FDA, EMA, GMP, and EU GMP Annex 1 frameworks that creates high switching costs once qualified into a customer's manufacturing process. The post-2022 biopharma capex downturn has weighed on revenue, and Sartorius is positioned as a turnaround story in 2025, leaning into cell and gene therapy expansion, consumables recurring revenue, and process automation (Biobrain Operate, Cubis III) to stabilize and re-accelerate growth.

Name

Sartorius

Legal name

Sartorius AG

Website

https://sartorius.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

1870

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

Sartorius is a German life science group supplying bioprocess equipment, single-use consumables, and lab instruments to biopharmaceutical manufacturers and research institutions across 35+ countries, generating approximately €3.5 billion in FY2025 revenue across its Bioprocess Solutions and Lab Products & Services divisions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Bioprocessing Equipment and Consumables

NAICS

Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing (334516), Testing Laboratories and Services (54138)

SIC

Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826), Services-Testing Laboratories (8734)

akta.pro primary industry

Single-Use Technologies (SUT) & Disposable Fluid Management (bags, assemblies, connectors) (HLAAAJAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Bioprocess Consumables & Reagents (resins, membranes, media components, buffers) (HLAAAJAI), Automation, Controls & Manufacturing Execution for Bioprocessing (SCADA/DCS/PLC/MES) (HLAAAJAE), Bioprocess Development & Scale-Up/Scale-Down Platforms (DoE, high-throughput, modeling) (HLAAAJAF)

Keywords

• Bioprocessing equipment
• Single-use bioreactors
• Biopharmaceutical manufacturing
• Lab weighing instruments
• Cell and gene therapy

Headquarters

HQ city

Göttingen

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Bioprocess Solutions Division: Single-use bioprocessing equipment and consumables including bioreactors, filtration systems, chromatography, and process analytics for biopharmaceutical manufacturing. This is the larger of the two divisions.
2. Lab Products & Services Division: Laboratory equipment including balances, pipettes, water purification systems, and microbiological testing products. Also includes consumables and service offerings.
3. Recurring Consumables: Single-use consumables including filters, bags, culture media, and reagents that require regular replenishment by customers.
4. Service and Validation: Virus clearance validation services and other technical services supporting product implementation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Sartorius manufactures and supplies integrated bioprocessing solutions, laboratory instruments, and consumables for the development and commercial manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals. Its Bioprocess Solutions division sells single-use bioreactors, filtration and chromatography products, process analytics, cell and gene therapy components, and bioprocess software, while the Lab Products & Services division sells precision balances, electronic pipettes, water purification systems, and microbiological testing products along with validation services.

Product overview

Sartorius is a life science company serving the biopharmaceutical sector with a platform-plus-products architecture. The company operates through two main divisions: Bioprocess Solutions (the larger segment) and Lab Products & Services. Core platforms include BIOSTAT STR single-use bioreactors combined with XCell ATF for upstream processing; Sartobind membrane chromatography and Veltis systems for downstream purification; Octet biolayer interferometry and iQue high-throughput cytometry for analytical applications; and Incucyte live-cell imaging for real-time cell analysis. The portfolio extends to Fluid Management products, Lab Weighing (Cubis III, Practum, Quintix, Secura, Entris balances), Pipetting (Picus electronic pipettes), Process Analytics (BioPAT platform), and Cell Selection/Retrieval (CellCelector). Acquired brands including Polyplus Transfection (nucleic acid delivery reagents), Albumedix/Recombumin (recombinant albumin), CellGenix (cell culture supplements), and MatTek/Vitrotex (in vitro tissue models) augment capabilities in advanced therapy solutions and human-relevant testing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sartorius Stedim Biotech: Bioprocessing division offering single-use bioprocessing equipment and consumables for biopharmaceutical manufacturers
• My Sartorius
• Octet
• Ambr
• Incucyte
• Cubis
• Picus
• iQue
• Biobrain
• Albumedix
• Polyplus

Products and services

• Octet Systems

Quantifiable outcome

• More than doubled manufacturing capacity for cell and gene therapy components with €140M Freiburg investment

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• MatTek CorporationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2025In July 2025, Germany-based Sartorius AG acquired US-based MatTek Corporation to strengthen its portfolio of human-relevant in vitro testing solutions for pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and chemical research. MatTek specializes in organotypic in vitro testing models derived from human cells.
• Repligen CorporationcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 August 2023In August 2023, Germany-based Sartorius AG partnered with US-based Repligen Corporation to introduce an integrated upstream bioprocessing system combining BIOSTAT STR and XCell ATF technologies for biopharmaceutical manufacturing.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Lonza Group: Lonza is a CDMO/biomanufacturing services incumbent that buys bioprocessing consumables and equipment at scale. While not a direct equipment competitor, Lonza is a major reference customer/partner for bioprocess technology vendors and competes indirectly in CGT manufacturing services.
• Waters Corporation: Waters is a peer in analytical laboratory instruments, chromatography systems, and mass spectrometry that overlaps with Sartorius's process analytics and BioPAT offerings for bioprocess monitoring and quality control.
• Agilent Technologies: Agilent is a broad incumbent in analytical laboratory instruments (chromatography, mass spectrometry, cell analysis) that overlaps with Sartorius's Octet BLI, iQue cytometry, and bioprocess analytics. Less directly competing in single-use bioprocessing hardware.
• Thermo Fisher Scientific: Thermo Fisher is a broad incumbent across bioprocessing (single-use technologies via the Patheon and bioproduction businesses), analytical instruments, and lab consumables. Competes with Sartorius in bioreactors, filtration, chromatography, and increasingly in CGT manufacturing services.

Emerging players

• Corning Incorporated (Life Sciences): Corning Life Sciences is an emerging peer in cell culture vessels, single-use containers, and bioprocess consumables. Overlaps with Sartorius in fluid management and single-use storage, particularly as Corning expands into bioprocess scale-up applications.

Direct peers

• Cytiva: Cytiva, a Danaher-owned life sciences business, is the closest direct competitor to Sartorius in single-use bioprocessing, offering bioreactors (Xcellerex), filtration, chromatography (ÄKTA), and process analytics for biopharmaceutical manufacturers. Operates with comparable scale and product breadth to Sartorius's Bioprocess Solutions division.
• Eppendorf AG: Eppendorf is a privately held German peer competing with Sartorius in bioreactors (BioFlo), pipettes, liquid handling, and cell handling consumables for life science research and bioprocess scale-up. Particularly relevant in the Lab Products & Services overlap.
• Repligen Corporation: Repligen is both a strategic partner and a direct peer in bioprocessing, offering XCell ATF cell-retention systems, OPUS pre-packed chromatography, and process analytics. Its XCell ATF is integrated with Sartorius's BIOSTAT STR via the 2023 alliance, and competes in upstream intensification.
• Bio-Techne Corporation: Bio-Techne is a peer in cell culture reagents, proteins, cytokines, and GMP-grade materials used in bioprocessing and cell/gene therapy manufacturing — directly overlapping with Sartorius's CellGenix and Albumedix portfolios following recent acquisitions.
• MilliporeSigma (Merck KGaA Life Science): The Life Science division of Merck KGaA operates MilliporeSigma, a direct peer providing single-use bioprocessing systems, filtration, chromatography, buffers, and cell culture media. Competes head-to-head with Sartorius across upstream and downstream bioprocessing consumables and equipment.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SartoriusGlobal
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/Sartorius
• Facebookfacebook.com/sartoriusnorthamerica
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sartorius
• Instagraminstagram.com/sartorius_group

Compliance7 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries17 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A17 records

Investments5 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sartorius