Berthold Technologies GmbH & Co. KG is a privately held technology company founded in 1949 and headquartered at Calmbacher Strasse 22, 75323 Bad Wildbad, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The company operates as a technology leader across three distinct but technically related measurement disciplines: bioanalytical instrumentation for life sciences laboratory use, radiometric process measurement and control instrumentation for heavy industry, and radiation protection monitoring equipment for nuclear, medical, research, and public safety environments.

All product design and engineering is conducted at the Bad Wildbad headquarters, with a stated identity as a Made-in-Germany precision technology manufacturer. The company maintains a global commercial presence through international branches, subsidiaries, and distribution partners, with a website available in English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, and Chinese — reflecting broad geographic reach across Europe, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East. Berthold Technologies invests a material proportion of its revenue in R&D and employs a significant cohort of trainees and student workers, reflecting a commitment to technical capability development. Annual export revenues represent the majority of total turnover.

Within the life sciences sector, Berthold’s Bioanalytics division is the most directly relevant business unit, supplying laboratory instrumentation for luminescence, fluorescence, absorbance, and radiometric detection in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, academic, and clinical research settings. The Process Control division serves pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical manufacturers indirectly through applications such as inline density, level, and moisture measurement in manufacturing processes. The Radiation Protection division serves nuclear medicine, radiopharmaceutical, and isotope research facilities.

Key Products and Services

Bioanalytics Division — Life Sciences Laboratory Instruments

• Microplate Readers:
  • Centro LB 963 Luminescence Microplate Luminometer — high-sensitivity bioluminescence detection for reporter gene assays, BRET, ATP measurement, and related applications
  • Tristar 3 Multimode Reader — multimode detection platform for luminescence, fluorescence (intensity, TR-FRET, HTRF, BRET, FP), and absorbance in microplate format; compatible with AlphaScreen®, HTRF®, CALUX®, SPARCL®, FRET, FP, and time-resolved fluorescence assays
  • ELISA and Absorbance Readers — dedicated microplate readers for ELISA and absorbance-based assays
  • Fluorescence Microplate Readers — dedicated fluorescence detection platforms
• Tube Luminometers:
  • Sirius 2 Tube Luminometer (LB 9526) — dual-injector tube luminometer for flash and glow luminescence assays
  • Lumat Tube Luminometer (LB 9510) — established tube luminometer for bioluminescence assays
  • Junior Portable Luminometer (LB 9509) — portable single-tube luminometer for field and point-of-care applications
• Radio HPLC Detectors (Radiochromatography):
  • FlowStar² HPLC Radio Detector (LB 514) — online radiometric detection for radio-HPLC, used in radiopharmaceutical quality control, metabolite profiling, and radiolabelled compound analysis
  • HERM LB 500 with fLumo detector — radio-HPLC system with combined liquid scintillation and gamma detection
  • HERM with NaI detector — radio-HPLC system with sodium iodide gamma detector
• In Vivo Imaging Systems:
  • NightOWL II (LB 983) — whole-small-animal bioluminescence and fluorescence imaging system for preclinical in vivo studies
  • NightSHADE evo (LB 985) — in vivo plant imaging system for bioluminescence and fluorescence studies in plant biology and environmental research
• Software: LightCompass® — instrument control and data analysis software for microplate reader operations
• Accessories, Validation, and QC: optical filters, µDrop Plate for low-volume sample measurements, cuvette adapters, flow cells for Radio HPLC, luminescence and absorbance test plates, gamma test sources, QC HPLC test cells, microplates, and adhesive foils

Process Control Division — Industrial Radiometric Measurement

• Level measurement — continuous level, level switch, multiphase/interface, and mould level measurement systems using radiometric (gamma) technology for non-contact, non-invasive measurement in extreme industrial process conditions
• Density measurement — inline and non-contact density measurement for slurries, liquids, and suspensions
• Bulk flow measurement — mass flow measurement on conveyors and in process lines
• Online moisture measurement — microwave-based online moisture analysers (MicroPolar series) for bulk solids, powders, and liquids
• Concentration measurement — microwave-based online Brix and concentration analysers

Industries served: refinery, oil and gas, metal and steel, chemical and petrochemical, sugar processing, pulp and paper, building materials and construction, mining and mineral processing, water treatment, waste and recycling, power generation, and food and beverages.

Radiation Protection Division — Radiation Monitoring Instruments

• Contamination monitors — personnel, surface, and portal contamination monitors for alpha, beta, and gamma measurement
• Alpha/beta counting systems — low-level alpha/beta counters, portable activity measurement systems, and Becquerel monitors
• Dose and dose rate instruments — ionisation chambers, Geiger-Mueller probes, proportional counters, and neutron dose rate monitors
• Airborne activity monitors — fixed and moving filter aerosol monitors, gas monitors, and aerosol/iodine samplers
• Nuclear data processing — data loggers, acquisition systems, and MEVIS measurement and visualisation software

Applications: nuclear facilities, nuclear medicine, radiopharmaceutical laboratories, research facilities, public safety, civil defence, and industrial radiation monitoring.

Berthold Technologies occupies a structurally distinctive position as a privately held, German precision instrument manufacturer with a 75-year operating history across three technically related measurement disciplines. Within the life sciences sector, its Bioanalytics division is particularly relevant to pharmaceutical and biotechnology laboratories engaged in drug discovery and development, where its luminescence, multimode microplate reader, and Radio HPLC detector portfolio address a specific and non-discretionary set of assay and radiochromatography measurement requirements. The FlowStar² Radio HPLC detector is especially significant in the radiopharmaceutical and nuclear medicine context, where online radiometric detection for radiolabelled compound analysis and metabolite profiling is a routine quality control requirement. The NightOWL II in vivo imaging platform addresses the growing preclinical bioluminescence and fluorescence imaging market. The company’s combination of long heritage, Made-in-Germany positioning, and multi-division technical breadth provides a degree of supplier credibility and continuity that resonates in regulated laboratory and manufacturing environments.