Socorex Isba SA is often referred to as just Socorex, the name under which it was first founded in the late 1940's. Two young watchmakers had identified the need for new types of quality syringes for medical applications. The products rapidly met with success internationally. In search for synergies, the company merged with another firm a few years later. Renamed Socorex Isba S.A., the new entity moved to Lausanne on Lake Geneva in 1960. Its growth, particulary in the laboratory field, soon forced the company out of the city to its today's larger, expandable facility in Ecublens, home of the Federal institute of technology (EPFL) and University of Lausanne (UNIL).