Recherche et Industrie Thérapeutiques (R.I.T.) was founded in Genval, Belgium, as a

penicillin Penicillins (P, PCN or PEN) are a group of beta-lactam antibiotic, β-lactam antibiotics originally obtained from ''Penicillium'' Mold (fungus), moulds, principally ''Penicillium chrysogenum, P. chrysogenum'' and ''Penicillium rubens, P. ru ...

factory in 1945 by Dr Pieter De Somer, who later became the founder of the Rega Institute for Medical Research and rector of the

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven KU Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Belgium. Founded in 1425, it is the oldest university in Belgium and the oldest university in the Low Countries. In addition to its main camp ...

(

Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

). The industrialist Jean Lannoye provided the funding for the company. The company started its

vaccine A vaccine is a biological Dosage form, preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease, infectious or cancer, malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verifi ...

research and production in the 1950s. The present CEO of the company is Roger Connor. In 1968, the company was acquired by

Smith, Kline & French Smith, Kline & French (SKF) was an American pharmaceutical company that is now a part of the British group GSK plc. History In 1830, John K. Smith opened a drugstore in Philadelphia, and his younger brother, George, joined him in 1841 to form ...

and the name was changed to SmithKline-RIT. In 1989, it became SmithKline Beecham Biologicals, and since 2000 GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals.

History

* 1945: Creation under the name of R.I.T. in Genval * 1956: Beginning of the activity of production of vaccines (

polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

vaccine) * 1958: Acquisition of the site in Rixensart * 1968: R.I.T. becomes a subsidiary company of SmithKline Corp. * 1989: Merger between SmithKline and Beecham * 1992: Acquisition of SSW-Dresden (

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

) * 1995: Extension of the site of Rixensart towards two new sites in Belgium: **

Wavre Wavre (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Walloon Brabant, Belgium. Wavre is in the Dijle, Dyle valley. Most inhabitants sp ...

for the production ** Gembloux for the scaling-up * 1995: Agreement on a joint-venture in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

* 1997: Agreement on a joint-venture in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

* 1998: Collaboration agreement with

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

* 1999: Agreement on a partnership with

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

* 2000: Merger between GlaxoWellcome and SmithKlineBeecham to form

GlaxoSmithKline GSK plc (an acronym from its former name GlaxoSmithKline plc) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with headquarters in London. It was established in 2000 by a Mergers an ...

References

GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals
(history)

External links

GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals
Pharmaceutical companies of Belgium GSK plc Pharmaceutical companies established in 1945 1945 establishments in Belgium Rixensart Companies based in Walloon Brabant {{med-company-stub

History

See also

References

External links