Hospira was an American global
pharmaceutical and
medical device company with headquarters in
Lake Forest, Illinois
Lake Forest is a city located in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 19,367. The city is along the shore of Lake Michigan, and is a part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the North Shore. Lake Forest ...
. It had approximately 19,000 employees. Before its acquisition by Pfizer, Hospira was the world's largest producer of generic injectable pharmaceuticals, manufacturing generic acute-care and oncology injectables, as well as integrated
infusion therapy and medication management systems. Hospira's products are used by hospitals and alternate site providers, such as clinics, home healthcare providers and long-term care facilities.
It was formerly the hospital products division of
Abbott Laboratories
Abbott Laboratories is an American multinational medical devices and health care company with headquarters in Abbott Park, Illinois, United States. The company was founded by Chicago physician Wallace Calvin Abbott in 1888 to formulate known dr ...
. On September 3, 2015, Hospira was acquired by
Pfizer, who subsequently sold off the medical devices portion of Hospira to
ICU Medical.
Worldwide sales in 2014 were approximately $4.5 billion. Current results are now part of Pfizer's consolidated statements.
History
In January 2004, Abbott announced it was spinning off its hospital products division.
Hospira's name was picked by employee vote. The name is derived from the words hospital, spirit, inspire and the Latin word "spero," which means "hope."
Hospira became an independent company on May 3, 2004, with 14,000 employees, 14 manufacturing sites and an estimated $2.5 billion in annual sales.
In 2007, Hospira purchased Mayne Pharma Ltd., an Australian-based specialty injectable pharmaceuticals company, for $2.1 billion.
In 2009, Hospira acquired the biotechnology business from Pliva-Croatia, the generic injectable pharmaceuticals business of
Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd., a leading Indian pharmaceuticals company, for approximately $400 million, and TheraDoc, a clinical informatics company that develops hospital
surveillance systems, in 2009. In 2010, Hospira acquired Javelin Pharmaceuticals, Inc., maker of post-operative pain management drug Dyloject, for approximately $145 million.
In 2011, Hospira's board chose Mike Ball, formerly president of
Allergan, as Hospira's new CEO. Ball became CEO in March 2011. Hospira named John Staley its non-executive chairman with the
retirement of former executive chairman Christopher Begley in January 2012. Begley had announced his retirement as Hospira's chief executive in August 2010, but had remained as executive chairman.
In 2015,
Pfizer signed an agreement to acquire Hospira. The roughly $17 billion acquisition was completed in September, 2015.
A year later Pfizer sold the medical devices portion of Hospira to
ICU Medical for roughly $900 million in cash, stock, and other consideration.
In 2020 through 2022, Pfizer used Hospira, Inc. as a trade name in reference to the subsidiary's involvement in as a supplier of 0.9%
Sodium chloride
Sodium chloride , commonly known as salt (although sea salt also contains other chemical salts), is an ionic compound with the chemical formula NaCl, representing a 1:1 ratio of sodium and chloride ions. With molar masses of 22.99 and 35.45 g ...
Injection USP diluent for use with the
Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
Sodium thiopental production
Sodium thiopental is an anesthetic discovered by Abbott Laboratories in the 1930s. Hospira manufactured the drug after splitting off from Abbott under the brand name Pentothal. The
WHO considers it an
essential drug. However, it is also used as part of the
lethal injection
Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital puni ...
protocol in many US states. Though Hospira has supplied these states with the drug, it has said, "we do not support the use of any of our products in capital punishment procedures."
In January 2011, the company announced that it would stop producing
sodium thiopental.
Hospira had recently moved production of the drug from a plant in
North Carolina to a plant in
Liscate,
Italy.
However, the Italian government would only allow Hospira to manufacture it if they could guarantee it wouldn't be used in capital punishment. The Italian constitution bans the use of capital punishment.
Company officials determined there was no way it could prevent sodium thiopental from being used in executions, and did not want to expose their employees to liability.
Legislation and litigation
Oxaliplatin: In August 2009, Hospira introduced a generic version of
Sanofi-Aventis SA's (SNY) colon-cancer drug known generically as oxaliplatin and by the brand name Eloxatin, in the United States. In April 2010, Hospira announced a legal settlement with Sanofi-Aventis. Under the settlement terms, Hospira agreed to stop selling
oxaliplatin
Oxaliplatin, sold under the brand name Eloxatin among others, is a cancer medication (platinum-based antineoplastic class) used to treat colorectal cancer. It is given by injection into a vein.
Common side effects include numbness, feeling ti ...
injection in the United States by June 30, 2010, and can relaunch the product in the United States on Aug. 9, 2012.
Biosimilars: In 2010, the U.S. Congress passed legislation that would allow the marketing of
biosimilar drugs in the United States. The legislation would allow 12 years of data exclusivity for brand-name biologics. Some consumer groups, like
AARP
AARP (formerly called the American Association of Retired Persons) is an interest group in the United States focusing on issues affecting those over the age of fifty. The organization said it had more than 38 million members in 2018. The magazin ...
, oppose this provision, saying it would cause lack of access to the promise of such drugs.
Competitors
Hospira's competitors in specialty injectable pharmaceuticals include
Fresenius AG,
Baxter International Inc., Bedford Laboratories,
Mylan,
Sandoz,
Teva Pharmaceuticals as well as divisions of several multinational pharmaceutical companies. Its competitors in medication management systems include Baxter, B. Braun Melsungen AG,
CareFusion
CareFusion was a medical company specializing in two areas: reducing medication errors and prevention of health care-associated infections.
Spinoff
CareFusion was created in 2009 as a spinoff of medical technology businesses from Cardinal Heal ...
and
Fresenius Medical Care AG.
Infusion pump system firmware vulnerability disclosures
In 2014-2015 two
security researchers independently identified what were described as severe defects in Hospira's PCA system
firmware
In computing, firmware is a specific class of computer software that provides the low-level control for a device's specific hardware. Firmware, such as the BIOS of a personal computer, may contain basic functions of a device, and may provide h ...
, the
software controlling various of their drug infusion equipment (CVE-2015-3459
and further advisory ICSA-15-125-01B
). Numerous
remote exploit
An exploit (from the English verb ''to exploit'', meaning "to use something to one’s own advantage") is a piece of software, a chunk of data, or a sequence of commands that takes advantage of a bug or vulnerability to cause unintended or unanti ...
vulnerabilities were found, in what was believed to be the first
FDA safety advisory of its kind.
This was followed in July 2015 by a second FDA recommendation that hospitals discontinue use of the affected pumps entirely.
The devices, extent of their flaws, and implications, were widely discussed.
References
External links
*
{{authority control, state=expanded
Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange
American companies established in 2004
Pharmaceutical companies established in 2004
Companies based in Lake Forest, Illinois
Generic drug manufacturers
Pharmaceutical companies of the United States
2015 mergers and acquisitions
Health care companies based in Illinois
Abbott Laboratories
Pfizer
Corporate spin-offs
American corporate subsidiaries