Everything about Novartis totally explained
Novartis International AG is a
multinational pharmaceutical company based in
Basel, Switzerland that manufactures drugs such as
clozapine (Clozaril),
diclofenac (Voltaren),
carbamazepine (Tegretol),
valsartan (Diovan),
imatinib mesylate (Gleevec / Glivec),
cyclosporin A (Neoral / Sandimmun),
letrozole (Femara),
methylphenidate hydrochloride (
Ritalin),
terbinafine (Lamisil), etc. Novartis owns
Sandoz, a large manufacturer of
generic drugs. The company formerly owned the
Gerber Products Company, a major infant and baby products producer, but announced in April 2007 it was selling Gerber to
Nestlé. Legal responsibility for Gerber was transferred from Novartis to Nestlé on 1 September 2007.
History
Novartis was created in
1996 from the merger of
Ciba-Geigy and
Sandoz Laboratories, both Swiss companies with long histories. At the time it was said to be the largest corporate merger in history. Ciba-Geigy was formed in
1970 by the merger of
J. R. Geigy (founded in Basel in
1758) and
Ciba (founded in Basel in
1859). Considering the histories of the merger partners, the company's history spans 250 years.
Ciba-Geigy
Johann Rudolf Geigy-Gemuseus (1733 – 1793) began trading in 1758 in "materials, chemicals, dyes and drugs of all kinds" in
Basel,
Switzerland.
Johann Rudolf Geigy-Merian (1830 – 1917) and
Johann Muller-Pack acquire a site in Basel in
1857, where they build a
dyewood mill and a dye extraction plant. Two years later, they begin the production of synthetic
fuchsine. In
1901 Geigy is transformed into a
public limited company and in 1914, the name of the company is changed to
J.R. Geigy Ltd.
In
1859 Alexander Clavel (1805 – 1873) takes up the production of
fuchsine in his factory for
silk dyeing works in Basel. In 1864, a new site for the production of synthetic dyes is constructed, and in 1873, Clavel sells his dye factory to the new company
Bindschedler & Busch. In 1884 Bindschedler & Busch is transformed into a joint-stock company with the name "Gesellschaft für Chemische Industrie Basel" (Company for Chemical Industry Basel). The abbreviation
CIBA becomes so widespread that it was adopted as the company's name in
1945.
In 1925 J.R. Geigy Ltd. starts producing textile auxiliaries, an activity which Ciba takes up in 1928.
In
1939, Geigy chemist
Paul Hermann Müller discovered that
DDT was effective against malaria-bearing insects. He received the
Nobel Prize in Medicine for this work in
1948.
Ciba and Geigy merged in 1971 to form
Ciba‑Geigy Ltd., and this company merged with Sandoz in 1996 to form Novartis.
Sandoz
Sandoz is perhaps best known for synthesizing
LSD in
1938. This was later marketed under the trade name
Delysid as a
psychiatric treatment from 1947 through the early 1960s. The
Chemiefirma Kern & Sandoz ("Kern & Sandoz Chemistry Firm") was founded in
1886 by Dr.
Alfred Kern (
1850-
1893) and
Edouard Sandoz (
1853-
1928). The first
dyes manufactured there were
alizarine blue and
auramine. After Kern's death, the partnership was changed to the corporation
Chemische Fabrik vormals Sandoz in
1895. The company began producing the fever-reducing drug
antipyrin in the same year.
Between the World Wars,
Gynergen (
1921) and
Calcium-Sandoz (
1929) were brought to market. Sandoz also produced chemicals for
textiles,
paper, and
leather beginning in
1929. In
1939, they began producing agricultural chemicals.
From
1899, the sugar substitute
saccharin was produced. Prior to the merger of Sandoz and
Ciba-Geigy to form Novartis in 1996, Sandoz also engaged in drug development.
Pharmaceutical research began in
1917 under Professor
Arthur Stoll (
1887-
1971). In 2005, Sandoz expanded significantly though the acquisition of
Hexal, one of Germany’s leading generics company, and
Eon Labs, a fast-growing U.S. generic pharmaceutical company.
The
psychedelic effects of
lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) were discovered at the Sandoz laboratories in
1943 by
Albert Hofmann. Sandoz began clinical trials, and marketed the drug under the name
Delysid as a psychiatric drug thought useful for treating a wide variety of mental ailments, from
alcoholism to
sexual deviancy. Sandoz suggested in its literature that
psychiatrists take LSD themselves, to gain a better subjective understanding of the
schizophrenic experience, and many did exactly that. For several years, the
psychedelic drugs were also called "
psychotomimetic" because they were thought to mimic
psychosis. Later research caused this term to be abandoned, as neuroscientists gained a better understanding of psychoses, including
schizophrenia. Research on LSD peaked in the
1950s and early
1960s. Sandoz withdrew the drug from the market in the mid 1960s.
Sandoz opened its first foreign offices in
1964.
In
1967, Sandoz merged with Wander AG (known for Ovomaltine and
Isostar). Sandoz acquired the companies
Delmark,
Wasabröd (
Swedish manufacturer of
crisp bread), and
Gerber Products Company baby food makers.
On
November 1,
1986, a fire broke out in a production plant storage room, which led to a large amount of
pesticide being released into the upper
Rhine. This exposure killed many
fish.
In
1995, Sandoz spun off its speciality chemicals business to form
Clariant. Subsequently, in 1997, Clariant merged with the speciality chemicals business that was spun off from
Hoechst in
Germany.
After the merger
After the merger, Novartis reorganized its activities, and spun out its chemicals activities as
Ciba Specialty Chemicals.
In
1998 the company made headlines with its
biotechnology licensing agreement with the
UC Berkeley Department of
Plant and
Microbial Biology. Critics of the agreement expressed concern over prospects that the agreement would diminish academic objectivity, or lead to the commercialization of
genetically modified plants. The agreement expired in 2003.
Novartis combined its
agricultural division with that of
AstraZeneca to create
Syngenta in November
2000.
In
2003, Novartis created
Sandoz, a subsidiary that bundles its
generic drug production, reusing the brand of one of its predecessor companies.
On
April 20 2006 Novartis acquired the California-based
Chiron Corporation. Chiron was formerly divided into three units: Chiron Vaccines and Chiron Blood Testing, which now combine to form Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, and Chiron BioPharmaceuticals, to be integrated into Novartis Pharmaceuticals.
The ongoing Basel Campus Project has the aim to transform the St. Johann site - Novartis headquarters in Basel - "from an industrial complex to a place of innovation, knowledge and encounter".
On 2005, Novartis introduced
Certican (
Everolimus), an immunosuppressant.
On October 2006, Novartis introduced
Telbivudine, a new antiviral drug for
hepatitis B.
Challenge to India's patent laws
In 2006, Novartis launched a court case against
India seeking to prohibit the country from developing
generic drugs based on
patented
medicines.Novartis had challenged a law that allows India to refuse to recognize a patent for an existing medicine if there's a modified formula resulting in a re-patent of the drug. On
August 5 2007 an Indian court in
Chennai ruled against Novartis saying that, "Novartis’ legal challenge - mounted to limit competition to its own patented medicines - was a threat to people suffering from
cancer,
HIV and
AIDS,
diabetes and other
diseases who are too poor to pay for them." The high court also claimed to have no jurisdiction on whether Indian Patent law complied with
WTO patent guidelines.
In the months leading up to the hearing, over half a million people wrote to the
CEO of Novartis expressing their opposition to the suit. Novartis has decided not to appeal the ruling.
Relationship with Huntingdon Life Sciences
The company and its shareholders have been targeted by
animal rights activists because it's a customer of
Huntingdon Life Sciences, a controversial
animal testing company that has been the subject of an international campaign by
Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty and the
Animal Liberation Front. After footage shot covertly by
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) aired on British television showing HLS staff allegedly abusing animals, Novartis offices were vandalized, and its executives' homes picketed.
Further Information
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