Desiccants, in one form or another, have been used by a number of different cultures, starting with their application centuries ago. A variety of materials were used for a range of purposes, including controlling moisture content and drying processes.  Desiccants have been put to work for a variety of medical conditions and procedures, as well as during the formulation of medicines of various types.

Early in the last century, Silica gel was used as a desiccant for the adsorption of vapors and gases employed in facial protection.

During the 1940s silica gel was used to keep penicillin dry, to protect sensitive equipment from moisture damage, as a fluid cracking trigger in the production of high octane gasoline, and as a catalyst in the manufacture of feedstock.

Extensive research has been done on liquid desiccant-based air conditioning systems for almost a century.

In 1961, desiccant technology was taken to a new level through the efforts of John Cullen of Buffalo, New York, through its use across a wide variety of business to business applications.

At the time, condensation from auto air conditioners would short out car radios. Cullen believed a desiccant could fix this problem and developed a business model that launched the product he envisioned, now called Multiforms, created from a substance known as molecular sieve.

In 1964, Cullen launched a new enterprise which acquired its first big customer at General Motors Delphi Division, where they used the desiccant tablet in their transistor radios during automobile production to keep them from moisture failure.

This new technology was adapted to form the foundation that was to grow into the Multisorb Filtration Group as it exists today. The company employs approximately 500 people in factories in West Seneca, Cheektowaga, and Hyderabad, India, reflecting its current status as a leader in desiccant technology.