Miles Laboratories was founded as the Dr. Miles Medical Company in Elkhart, Indiana, in 1884 by Dr. Franklin Lawrence Miles, a specialist in the treatment of eye and ear disorders, with an interest in the connection of the nervous system to overall health. Miles operated as an independent firm from 1884 until 1979 and as a wholly owned subsidiary of Bayer AG from 1979 until 1995, when it was consolidated into the parent corporation.
History
By 1890, the sales success of his patent medicine tonic, "Dr. Miles Restorative Nervine", in treating "nervous" ailments led him to develop a mail order medicine business. Miles also published Medical News, from 1884—a thinly disguised marketing vehicle for Nervine, now referenced as advertorials. Nervine remained on the market as a "calmative" until the late 1960s; Miles' bromide sedative syrup is considered "a precursor to modern tranquilizers." In 1932, the company became Dr. Miles Laboratories, then, in 1935, the name was again changed, to Miles Laboratories. During World War Two the company produced various goods for the US war effort, including packaged coffee products for military rations. In 1970—to complement its existing vitamin manufacturing division—Miles laboratories merged with Adventist-owned Worthington Foods of Ohio, opening a new Worthington Foods factory in 1972 to quadruple production capacity for a line of vegetarian foods based on the meat analogue developed over the previous two decades by Worthington, to be marketed under the brand nameMorning Star Farm Foods, Morning Star was sold with Worthington Foods to Kellogg'sin 1999. In 1979, Bayer AG—after its U.S. and Canadian aspirin business was seized as enemy property during World War I and subsequently sold as enemy assets—purchased Miles Laboratories and its subsidiary Miles Canada to reestablish a presence in North America. In the process, Bayer also acquired products such as Alka-Seltzer, Flintstones Vitamins, One-A-Day Vitamins, Bactine, S.O.S Soap Pads, and Worthington Foods. Bayer continued to operate Miles Laboratories and developed many drugs based upon biological extracts, such as Kogenate, Gamimune-N and other immunoglobulins, and Trasylol, as well as diagnostic products such as blood glucose test strips and glucose meters. Miles also owned Cutter Laboratories, manufacturer of such diverse products as insect repellent and synthetichuman Factor VIII clotting factor for hemophiliacs. In 1992, Bayer AG moved the United States headquarters of Miles to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from Elkhart, Indiana. On April 1, 1995, Bayer eliminated the Miles brand name from all products and facilities after Bayer had acquired Sterling Winthrop the previous year. Miles Laboratories also operated sites in other parts of the United States, including West Haven, Connecticut, which are now part of Bayer AG.
