Amersham Pharmacia Biotech acquires Molecular Dynamics, the company's alliance partner since 1994. Molecular Dynamics was founded by Jay Flatly and Jim Schlater in Sunnyvale, California in 1987, to develop laser scanning technologies. The company achieved its big breakthrough with the launch of the PhosphorImager™ in 1989 and went public in 1993. In 1997, Molecular Dynamics had 310 employees and sales of $55.7 million.