Clearblue

Clearblue is a brand of Swiss Precision Diagnostics that offers consumer home diagnostic products such as pregnancy tests, ovulation tests and fertility monitors.[1][2][3]

Clearblue
OwnerSPD Swiss Precision Diagnostics GmbH
Introduced1985
MarketsWorld
Websitewww.clearblue.com

Product history
Clearblue home pregnancy test system 1985

Clearblue was introduced in 1985 with the launch of the first Clearblue Home Pregnancy Test system, which at the time was owned by Unilever.[4] It was the world’s first “rapid home test” that gave pregnancy test results in 30 minutes and allowed a woman to take a test before going to the doctor.[4] The test was a three-step process using a dipstick and small tray.[4]

In 1988, Clearblue launched the first one-step pregnancy test with the invention of lateral flow technology.[3][5] This one-step test gave a result in 3 minutes, subsequently reduced to a 1-minute result when Clearblue introduced the world’s first one-minute home pregnancy test in 1996.[6] In 2003, Clearblue released the first digital pregnancy test to show the result in words ‘Pregnant’ or ‘Not Pregnant’ on a digital screen.[7][8]

Clearblue Advanced Digital Pregnancy Test with Weeks Estimator

In 1989, Clearblue released the first one-step home ovulation test, enabling women to measure their surge in Luteinising Hormone (LH) to determine their most fertile days.[8][9] In 1999, the brand launched the world’s first dual-hormone fertility monitor, which allowed women to measure estrone3-glucuronide (estrogen) in combination with LH.[10] The company created the first digital ovulation test in 2004.[11] In 2013, the company also began offering an ovulation test with a dual hormone read detecting both estrogen and LH.

Clearblue Digital Ovulation Test with Dual Hormone Indicator

Clearblue won the 2012 Red Dot Design Award in the product design category for its Clearblue Plus Pregnancy Test.[12] The Clearblue Digital Ovulation test was the 2011 Platinum winner in the Prima Baby Reader Awards.[13]

Clearblue is a donor to Flight for Every Mother Ltd, a humanitarian project led by Dr. Sophia Webster which aims to improve maternal health in Africa.[14]

SPD Swiss Precision Diagnostics GmbH

Unilever’s diagnostics subsidiary, Unipath, was sold to Inverness Medical Innovations Group in 2001, later renamed ALERE.[4] Since 2007, Clearblue has been produced and distributed by SPD Swiss Precision Diagnostics GmbH, a 50/50 joint venture between Procter & Gamble and ALERE.[15][16][17][18][19] The company is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.[20] In addition to Clearblue, the company also manufactures and distributes other consumer diagnostic products including Accu-Clear, Fact Plus Pregnancy Test, Clearplan and the PERSONA monitor.[15][17][21]

Clearblue Research Center
Clearblue Research Center

The Clearblue research and development facility is based in Bedford, United Kingdom and employs over 130 people. The Research Center has conducted over 100 clinical studies involving over 500,000 clinical trial participants over the last 25 years.[22][23]

See also
  • Human chorionic gonadotrophin
  • Early pregnancy factor
  • Birth control

References
  1. Alexandra Sifferlin (2013-08-28). "Finally, The First Home Pregnancy Test That Tells You How Pregnant You Are". Time. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  2. {{cite web there are two windows a result line and a control line, if control like doesn't show up that doesn't always mean it is inaquarate. About 98% of the time they are right. You should still get a pregnancy test the following morning or go to your local doctor. |url=http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/2013/09/08/new-home-pregnancy-test-reveals-how-pregnant-you-are/UpQFvWgbq8Mhza8VKxmnSL/story.html |author=Deborah Kotz |date=2013-09-08 |accessdate=2013-10-07 |title=New home pregnancy test reveals how pregnant you are |publisher=Boston.com}}
  3. Pagan Kennedy (2012-07-27). "Who Made That Home Pregnancy Test?". New York Times. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  4. Geoffrey Jones; Alison Kraft (2010-06-04). "Corporate venturing: the origins of Unilever's pregnancy test". Business History. 46 (1): 100–122. doi:10.1080/00076790412331270139.
  5. Sarah Tiplady (2013). "7.3: Lateral Flow and Consumer Diagnostics". The Immunoassay Handbook. pp. 533–536. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
  6. A.J. Jacobs (1997-07-18). "David Lynch Takes a Pregnancy Pause". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  7. "A Timeline of Pregnancy Testing". The Office of NIH History. Archived from the original on 2019-08-07. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  8. Sarah Tiplady. "Chapter 7.4: Consumer Diagnostics—Clearblue Pregnancy and Fertility Testing". The Immunoassay Handbook. pp. 537–540. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
  9. Whitelaw, Dr. W. A., ed. (2004). "History of Medicine Days" (PDF). The University of Calgary. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  10. "New Pregnancy Test May Also Show Miscarriage Risk". NPR News Station. 2013-07-11. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  11. "Clearblue Digital Ovulation Test" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  12. "ClearBlue Plus". Red Dot 21. Archived from the original on 2013-12-02. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  13. "Platinum winner - ovulation test". Babyexpert.com. Archived from the original on 2013-12-02. Retrieved 2013-10-23.
  14. "Sponsors". Flight For Every Mother. Archived from the original on 2013-12-04. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  15. Michael Johnsen (2011-02-14). "NAD recommends modification of Clearblue Easy Digital ad claims". Drug Store News. Archived from the original on 2013-09-13. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  16. "Clearblue". Procter & Gamble. 10 Oct 2012. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 17 Oct 2013.
  17. "SPD Swiss Precision Diagnostics GmbH". InsideView. Archived from the original on 2013-11-06. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  18. "Inverness Medical and Procter & Gamble form consumer diagnostics joint venture – SPD Swiss Precision Diagnostics GmbH". Thomson Reuters. 17 May 2007. Retrieved 17 Oct 2013.
  19. "Inverness Medical Innovation (IMA) Forms Joint Venture with Procter & Gamble (PG)". StreetInsider.com. 27 Dec 2006. Archived from the original on 4 December 2013. Retrieved 17 Oct 2013.
  20. "SPD Swiss Precision Diagnostics GmbH". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  21. "7.4 Consumer Diagnostics—Clearblue Pregnancy and Fertility Testing". Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  22. Sarah R. Johnson; Fernando Miro; Sophie Barrett; Jayne E. Ellis (2009). "Levels of urinary human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) following conception and variability of menstrual cycle length in a cohort of women attempting to conceive". Current Medical Research and Opinion. 25 (3).
  23. Janet Grannells (2013-09-06). "Abstracts of the 27th Annual Meeting of ESHRE, Stockholm, Sweden, 3 July—6 July 2011". Human Reproduction.
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