At-a-Glance:
| Company |
Arbor Assays |
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| Specialties |
High-quality detection and immunoassay kits |
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| Mission |
Arbor Assays aims to make science easier and more accessible by creating trusted assay kits and fostering a workplace where every employee-owner is committed to the success of our customers and each other. |
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| Noteworthy |
While empowering scientists everywhere with innovative tools and deep support, the company has a business model that values people as much as progress. |
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| Location |
Ann Arbor, Michigan |
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| President and CEO |
Braden Robison |
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Arbor Assays, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is an employee-owned life sciences company dedicated to developing and manufacturing immunoassays, detection kits, and activity assays for researchers across academia, government, and industry. Its products allow scientists to measure hormones, proteins, metabolites, and antibodies across a wide range of sample types, including serum, plasma, saliva, feces, feathers, and environmental samples.
The founders didn't start by chasing the largest markets. Instead, they began by supporting researchers that were often overlooked: wildlife endocrinologists studying stress physiology in non-model organisms. Early customers needed assays that worked outside textbook conditions and a supplier capable of talking through challenges when samples didn't behave like reference standards. These early experiences set the stage for a broader range of applications.
Today, Arbor Assays products are used in reproduction, stress, neuroscience, metabolism, immunology, cell signaling, and clinical research. Although traditional academic labs and conventional research settings now represent a significant portion of the active customer base, Arbor Assays is still guided by the same principle: designing tools that serve real-world research needs rather than idealized conditions. Whether researchers are working with mouse serum in a university core facility or analyzing cortisol in penguin feathers in the field, the approach to validation and support remains consistent.
The combination of scientific expertise and genuine accessibility continues to define Arbor Assays. The team includes many former academic researchers who bring deep technical understanding to their work. This background is evident in the design and validation of assays, the writing of protocols, and the delivery of customer support. An experienced scientist, not a bot or automated system, answers every inquiry. Researchers turn to the experts at Arbor Assays for help with assay selection, sample preparation, troubleshooting, and experimental design, and know that they will continue receiving support until their issue is resolved.
The commitment of Arbor Assays to quality and customer relationships is strengthened by its ownership structure. As an employee-owned company, every staff member has a direct stake in the success and reputation of the organization. This model fosters accountability, shared purpose, and decision-making that prioritizes trust and consistent performance over short-term growth.
Arbor Assays products are recognized for their reproducibility and reliability across both traditional and challenging sample types. Highly cited in scientific literature, Arbor Assays kits accommodate both low- and high-throughput workflows. The attention to validation, sensitivity, and adaptability reflects the company's ongoing commitment to serving the evolving needs of the research community. The company has also seen strong adoption of its multi-format kits, which provide flexibility across a wide variety of workflows and samples. Even after a product launches, the team continues to gather feedback to refine assays and expand their applications.
Furthermore, Arbor Assays is committed to functioning as a scientific partner rather than merely a supplier. The company publishes detailed application notes, shares peer-reviewed studies that use its kits, and develops content that strengthens experimental methodology.
For the leadership of Arbor Assays, ambition is measured not only in growth but also in trust. The goal is to remain the company that researchers turn to when their data matter most and samples are irreplaceable. That means protecting the standards that have earned the company its reputation: dependable performance, thoughtful validation, and accessible expert support.
The founding story continues to shape the identity of Arbor Assays. The initial drive to create assays that worked beyond idealized textbook conditions built a philosophy that values adaptability, scientific rigor, and empathy for the challenges faced by researchers. Even as the company's reach has grown far beyond wildlife physiology into more conventional laboratory settings, it has maintained its commitment to making science easier and more accessible.