Gedeon Richter Plc. is a Hungarian multinational

pharmaceutical A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and re ...

and

biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...

company headquartered in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, Hungary. It is one of the largest companies of the industry in the

Central and Eastern Europe Central and Eastern Europe is a term encompassing the countries in the Baltics, Central Europe, Eastern Europe and Southeast Europe (mostly the Balkans), usually meaning former communist states from the Eastern Bloc and Warsaw Pact in Europe. ...

an region and has operations in over 40 countries. The company sells products for

gynecology Gynaecology or gynecology (see spelling differences) is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, forming the combined are ...

, the

central nervous system The central nervous system (CNS) is the part of the nervous system consisting primarily of the brain and spinal cord. The CNS is so named because the brain integrates the received information and coordinates and influences the activity of all par ...

, and

cardiology Cardiology () is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular heart d ...

areas among other therapeutic areas. The company was established in Budapest by

Gedeon Richter Gedeon Richter (23 September 1872 – 30 December 1944) was a Hungarian pharmacist, founder of Gedeon Richter plc and a pioneer of the modern Hungarian pharmaceutical industry. Life Richter was born to a Jewish family in Ecséd, Hungary, ...

(1872–1944), a pharmacist, in 1901. The establishment of his firm marked the beginning of the development of the Hungarian

industry. Gedeon Richter plc has a primary listing on the

Budapest Stock Exchange Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE) ( hu, Budapesti Értéktőzsde (BÉT)) is the Stock exchange, 2nd largest stock exchange in Central and Eastern Europe by market capitalization and Market liquidity, liquidity. It is located at 55 Krisztina Boulevar ...

and is a constituent of the BUX Index. It had a

market capitalisation Market capitalization, sometimes referred to as market cap, is the total value of a publicly traded company's outstanding common shares owned by stockholders. Market capitalization is equal to the market price per common share multiplied by t ...

of approximately $6,6 billion as of 2018, the third largest of companies with a primary listing on the Budapest Stock Exchange. It has secondary listings on the

Luxembourg Stock Exchange The Luxembourg Stock Exchange, LuxSE (french: Bourse de Luxembourg) is based in Luxembourg City at 35A boulevard Joseph II. The chairman of the board is Alain Kinsch and the chief executive officer is Julie Becker. The exchange has pre-opening ...

History

Early history

In 1901, the pharmacist

founded the company, when he first received a license to industrially produce medicines. Initially, small-scale pharmaceutical production took place in the Arany Sas (Golden Eagle) Pharmacy, which still operates today. At the time pharmaceutical production on an industrial scale required heavy investments, and large-scale pharmaceutical manufacturing activities were considered to be extremely capital-intensive operations. Initially, the laboratory processed extracts from organs of animals and produced organotherapeutic drugs. The plant was built in 1907 in the

Kőbánya Kőbánya (literally: Quarry, ) is the 10th district of Budapest () and one of the largest by territory. It is located in southeast Pest, easily accessible from the downtown by Metro 3, whose terminus is named '' Kőbánya-Kispest''. It has ...

suburb of

and was Hungary´s first pharmaceutical manufacturing plant and regarded as an outstanding technological achievement in its day. In compliance with the established international trends of the pharmaceutical industry in those days, the company produced herbal drugs, processed extracts from plants and manufactured synthetic products at a later date. The company became a highly recognized manufacturer of

lecithin Lecithin (, from the Greek ''lekithos'' "yolk") is a generic term to designate any group of yellow-brownish fatty substances occurring in animal and plant tissues which are amphiphilic – they attract both water and fatty substances (and so ar ...

products, antiseptic and febrifuge products, as well as

painkiller An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic (American English), analgaesic (British English), pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used to achieve relief from pain (that is, analgesia or pain management). It i ...

s ( Hyperol, Kalmopyrin, and Tonogen, which continue to be in use). In 1934, Constant Janssen, of the future

Janssen Pharmaceuticals Janssen Pharmaceuticals is a pharmaceutical company headquartered in Beerse, Belgium, and wholly-owned by Johnson & Johnson. It was founded in 1953 by Paul Janssen. In 1961, Janssen Pharmaceuticals was purchased by New Jersey-based American c ...

, acquired the distribution rights for Gedeon Richter's products. In the 1970s, chemists at the Gedeon Richter Chemical Works in Budapest discovered the brain enhancing drug

Vinpocetine Vinpocetine (ethyl apovincaminate) is a synthetic derivative of the vinca alkaloid vincamine, differing by the removal of a hydroxyl group. Vincamine is extracted from either the seeds of ''Voacanga africana'' or the leaves of ''Vinca minor'' (le ...

. In 1995 Gedeon Richter signed a manufacturing contract with Danco for marketing an abortion pill in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. In 1997 the company made the decision to breach of contract by pulling out the production on U.S. market. Thus, on May 9, 1997 the New Yorker Supreme Court accused the company by Danco Laboratories Ltd., because they lost over $200 million by the abortion pill project.

Recent history

In May 2006 Gedeon Richter signed a development and supply agreement with the US-based company

Repros Therapeutics Repros Therapeutics Inc. (), was a US-based development stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas. Founded in 1987 as Zonagen, it focused on the development of oral small molecule drugs to address major unmet medical n ...

to produce Proellex. In July 2007 Gedeon Richter signed a contract with Barr Pharma for the production of

Novartis Novartis AG is a Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland and Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (global research).name="novartis.com">https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-loc ...

Lamisil. Barr paid Gedeon Richter a royalty for distributing the product in the U.S. From July 2008 - April 2012, the company constructed a new manufacturing facility ($110 million) in Debrecen. In October 2010, Gedeon Richter acquired 100% of a private Swiss biopharmaceutical company, PregLem, for CHF 445 million (€337 million). PregLem is focused on the treatment of gynecological conditions and infertility. In 2015, Stada Arzneimittel AG and Gedeon Richter signed a license and distribution agreement to commercialize Richter’s biosimilar

Pegfilgrastim Pegfilgrastim, sold under the brand name Neulasta among others, is a PEGylated form of the recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (GCSF) analog filgrastim. It serves to stimulate the production of white blood cells ( neutrophils ...

in Europe. According to the agreement Stada receives non-exclusive distribution rights for the area of geographical Europe (excluding Russia), while Richter retains its rights to distribute and market biosimilar Pegfilgrastim worldwide. In January 2017,

William de Gelsey Baron William de Gelsey of Gelse and Belišće, Beliscse (17 December 1921, Vienna – 26 February 2021, London), internationally known as William de Gelsey, was a British banker and economist of Hungarian origin. He was chief adviser of the Boa ...

resigned as Chairman of the board of Gedeon Richter. He was replaced by former CEO Erik Bogsch, who served as a Chief Executive Officer of Gedeon Richter from 1992 to November 2017. As the new Chief Executive Officer he appointed Gabor Orban, a former fund manager, government official and Bogsch’s deputy since 2016. De Gelsey remains to be a member of the board. In April 2017, Evestra signed a collaboration partnership agreement with Gedeon Richter. In February 2019, Gedeon Richter and Pantarhei Bioscience signed a license and supply agreement for the commercialization of a novel combined oral contraceptive. In September 2018 the company started collaborating with the company to distribut its contraceptive, Estelle, in Europe and Russia. Richter's atypical antipsychotic, Reagila, containing the active ingredient cariprazine, was awarded the prize of Medicine of the Year 2019 by the Hungarian Society for Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology (MFT).

Corporate affairs

Organizational structure

Gedeon Richter has various subsidiaries in different countries: Gedeon Richter Polska, Gedeon Richter Romania and Gedeon Richter RUS are regional production subsidiaries. Richter-Themis Medicare (India) (51% Gedeon Richter, 49% Themis), Richter-Helm BioLogics and BioTec (Germany), Mediplus N.V. (

Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...

), Gedeon Richter Mexico, S.A.P.I. de C.V., Gedeon Richter Do Brasil Importadora, Exportadora E Distribuidora S.A. and Gedeon Richter Columbia S.A.S. are international subsidiaries in production and distribution.

Leadership structure

The company's chief governing body is the Board of Directors. The board's Chairman is Erik Bogsch, who had served as Chief Executive Officer since 1992 and was succeeded by Gábor Orbán as CEO in November 2017. The board members are

Gábor Gulácsi Gábor (sometimes written Gabor) may refer to: * Gábor (given name) * Gabor (surname) * Gabor sisters, the three famous actresses, Eva, Magda and Zsa Zsa * Several scientific terms named after Dennis Gabor ** Gabor atom ** Gabor filter, a linear ...

János Csák János Csák (born 15 October 1962) is a Hungarian corporate leader, honorary professor of management, who has been the Minister of Culture and Innovation since 24 May 2022. Formerly, he served as Ambassador of Hungary to the United Kingdom betwe ...

Dr. Ilona Hardy Doctor is an Academic degree, academic title that originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an Agent noun, agentive noun of the Latin verb 'to teach'. It has been used as an academic title in Europ ...

Dr. György Bagdy Doctor is an Academic degree, academic title that originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an Agent noun, agentive noun of the Latin verb 'to teach'. It has been used as an academic title in Europ ...

Csaba Lantos Csaba Lantos may refer to: * Csaba Lantos (politician) * Csaba Lantos (volleyball player) {{hndis, Smith, John Human name disambiguation pages ...

Anett Pandurics Anett is a feminine given name. People bearing the name include: * Anett Griffel (born 1990), Estonian fashion model * Anett Györe (born 1981), Hungarian water polo player * Anett Kisfaludy (born 1990), Hungarian handball player *Anett Kontaveit ...

Bálint Szécsényi Bálint or Balint is a Hungarian surname derived from Valentinushttps://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=balint. Surname * Alice Balint (born Alice Székely-Kovács) (1898–1939), Hungarian psychoanalyst *András Bálint (born 1943), Hungaria ...

Prof Dr Szilveszter E. Vizi Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

, Dr. Kriszta Zolnay. The company's other governing bodies are the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board. The executive board is led by Erik Bogsch. Other members are Gábor Orbán, Gábor Gulácsi, István Greiner, Tibor Horváth, György Thaler. The supervisory board is led by Róbert Jonathán Bedros. Other members are Attila Chikán, Klára Csikós Kovácsné, Zsolt Harmath, and Éva Kozsda Kovácsné.

Shareholder structure

As of December 31, 2018, Gedeon Richter’s shareholder structure is: * 66% - International investors * 25% - Hungarian State (Hungarian State Holding Company, MNV Zrt.) * 9% - Domestic investors In 2018 the dividends approved by the shareholders of Gedeon Richter were

EUR The euro (symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . Th ...

41 million in total.

Operations

The corporation has two plants today: the headquarters in Budapest, and a subsidiary in

Dorog Dorog (german: Drostdorf) is a small town in Komárom-Esztergom County, Hungary. It lies north-west from the center of Budapest. Etymology The name comes from Slavic ''drugъ'' (drug) - a partner, comrade, "brother". History The valley betw ...

which has been operating since 1967. The company has

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

s in India with Themis Medicare, and in Germany, with Helm AG. Richter-Gedeon-Nyrt-P5010609

2012.

Biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...

plant in

Debrecen Debrecen ( , is Hungary's second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century and i ...

Awards

In 2017, Gedeon Richter was recognized by the Hungarian Innovation Foundation with the Innovation Grand Prize for the development of Cariprazine, an antipsychotic drug which is used in the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorders.

IUPAC-Richter Prize

In 2006, Gedeon Richter gifted a large sum to the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), thereby establishing the IUPAC–Richter Prize in Medicinal Chemistry. The $10,000 prize is awarded every second year to an internationally recognized scientist (normally a medicinal chemist), whose research or publications have made a significant contribution to the practice of medicinal chemistry. The prize was initiated to honor and highlight the central role of medicinal chemistry in improving human health.

References

External links

* * Company headquarters' location in Budapest, Hungary: {{authority control Pharmaceutical companies established in 1901 Pharmaceutical companies of Hungary Biotechnology companies of Hungary Vaccine producers Veterinary medicine companies Hungarian brands Manufacturing companies based in Budapest Orphan drug companies Kőbánya Companies of Austria-Hungary 1901 establishments in Hungary