About Ugo Basile

Ugo Basile designs and manufactures instruments for preclinical research, with a long-standing specialization in behavioural neuroscience, pain research, motor function and physiological studies in rodents. Our instruments are used in academic, pharmaceutical and contract research laboratories worldwide, and the Ugo Basile name is cited in more than 50,000 peer-reviewed papers.  The reason for this is that our devices are “the classic” in most cases and “the brand new” ones in many others. We work with the scientists to transform their ideas into instruments, i.e. successful instruments that also other scientists will benefit from.

Ugo Basile was founded on a simple but powerful idea: transforming scientific needs into reliable research instruments.

Many of our instruments were born from direct collaboration with researchers, who brought us an experimental question and helped us turn it into a reliable tool. For example:

• Our flagship product, the RotaRod test. Invented by Dunham and Miya (1957) and transformed into a science-grade device by Ugo Basile, is one of the oldest used in assessing the effects of a drug on animal behavior. and not only in drug screening. RotaRod by Ugo Basile has more then 7,200 citation in literature.
• Plantar Test for Thermal Stimulation - Hargreaves Apparatus was invented after Dr. Hargreaves, which was transformed by Ugo Basile into a science-grade instrument to perform this stimulation and automatically measure response, it became a gold-standard with more than 2,600 publications.
• In recent years, collaboration with Prof. Zimmermann has led to the development of the Thermal Gradient Ring, that clearly discriminates temperature-dependent phenotypes or temperature dependent drug effects. 

The same dialogue with the scientific community still guides how we update existing systems and develop new ones.

Design, production, testing and technical service all take place at our headquarters in Gemonio, near Varese.

Keeping know-how in-house, under an ISO 9001 certified quality system, lets us control every stage, build instruments that reduce experimental variability, and adapt them to specific protocols when a laboratory needs it.

Researchers in more than 120 countries work with Ugo Basile instruments, served directly from Italy and through a network of trained distribution partners who provide local sales and first-level support. Our instruments are built for long-term laboratory use, and we support them throughout their life with documentation, spare parts, repair services and optional extended warranty programs

Our company's roots trace back to 1963 at the Department of Veterinary Physiology, University of Milan. Ugo Basile, this company's founder, was appointed Chief Laboratory Technician for the department in recognition of his expertise in engineering, design, and invention. His skillfulness in creating new apparatus and modifying existing research equipment had become apparent to many researchers at the University, as did the demand for more and varied instruments and Mr. Basile was able to bring together expertise on optics, machining, glass blowing, electromagnetic actuators, and other fields to successfully develop novel instruments for new applications.