Gedeon Richter Plc. is a European multinational

pharmaceutical Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, 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 ...

and

biotechnology Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...

company headquartered in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. It is the largest pharmaceutical company in

Central and Eastern Europe Central and Eastern Europe is a geopolitical term encompassing the countries in Baltic region, Northeast Europe (primarily the Baltic states, Baltics), Central Europe (primarily the Visegrád Group), Eastern Europe, and Southeast Europe (primaril ...

, with an expanding direct presence in

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

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 ...

Northern America Northern America is the northernmost subregion of North America, as well as the northernmost region in the Americas. The boundaries may be drawn significantly differently depending on the source of the definition. In one definition, it lies dir ...

and

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

. Richter has the largest R&D unit in

and operations in over 100 countries. Gedeon Richter Plc. has a primary listing on the

Budapest Stock Exchange Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE) (, (BÉT)) is the Stock exchange, third largest stock exchange in Central and Eastern Europe by market capitalization and Market liquidity, liquidity. It is located at 55 Krisztina Boulevard, Budapest, Hungary, in ...

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 ...

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 () 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. History A law establishing a stock exchange in Luxemb ...

. Richter sells products for the

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

women's health Women's health is an example of population health, where health is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity". Often treated ...

and

cardiovascular In vertebrates, the circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the body. It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, that consists of the heart a ...

therapeutic areas among others. The company is also active in

biosimilar A biosimilar (also known as follow-on biologic or subsequent entry biologic) is a biologic medical product that is almost an identical copy of an original product that is manufactured by a different company. Biosimilars are officially approved ...

product development. The company was established in Budapest by Gedeon Richter (1872–1944), a

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English, is a healthcare professional who is knowledgeable about preparation, mechanism of action, clinical usage and legislation of medications in ...

, in 1901.

History

Early history

In 1901, the pharmacist Gedeon Richter 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 (, , ) is the 10th district of Budapest () and one of the largest by territory. It is located in southeast Pest (city), Pest, easily accessible from the downtown by Budapest Metro, Metro 3, whose Terminal station, terminus is named ' ...

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 Ancient Greek "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, antalgic, pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used for pain management. Analgesics are conceptually distinct from anesthetics, which temporarily reduce, and in s ...

s ( Hyperol, Kalmopyrin, and Tonogen, which continue to be in use). In 1934, Constant Janssen, of the future Janssen Pharmaceuticals, acquired the distribution rights for Gedeon Richter's products. The company was nationalized in 1948 and remained fully state-owned until 1994. In the 1970s, chemists at the Gedeon Richter Chemical Works in Budapest discovered the brain enhancing drug vinpocetine, which continues to be used in treatment of cerebrovascular disorders. In 1995 Gedeon Richter signed a contract with Danco Laboratories to market an abortion pill

mifepristone Mifepristone, and also known by its developmental code name RU-486, is a drug typically used in combination with misoprostol to bring about a medical abortion during pregnancy. This combination is 97% effective during the first 63 days (9 wee ...

in the USA. Danco resolved to contracting Gedeon, because its prior attempts to find a US distributor failed due to "the politically volatile climate surrounding abortion in this country he USA" Facing a strong opposition from the US

pro-life Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in response to the lega ...

groups, Gedeon decided in 1997 to end its efforts to place

on the U.S. market. On May 9, 1997 Danco filed a lawsuit against Gedeon, because they lost over $200 million due to the Gedeon's

breach of contract Breach of contract is a legal cause of action and a type of civil wrong, in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other part ...

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 nee ...

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

Novartis Novartis AG is a Swiss multinational corporation, multinational pharmaceutical company, pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland. Novartis is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world and was the eighth largest by re ...

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 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 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 remained to be a member of the board until his passing. 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 distribute 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, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela. Curaçao includ ...

), 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, János Csák, Dr. Ilona Hardy, Dr. György Bagdy, Csaba Lantos, Anett Pandurics, Bálint Szécsényi, Prof Dr Szilveszter E. Vizi, 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, Éva Kozsda Kovácsné and Dale A. Martin.

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: €; currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the euro area or, more commonly, the eurozone. The euro is divided into 10 ...

41 million in total.

Operations

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

Dorog Dorog () 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 between the Pilis a ...

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 acce ...

s in India with Themis Medicare, and in Germany, with Helm AG. In 2012, the company opened a biotechnology plant in

Debrecen Debrecen ( ; ; ; ) is Hungary's cities of Hungary, second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain Regions of Hungary, region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the large ...

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 Kőbánya Companies of Austria-Hungary 1901 establishments in Hungary Companies in the Central European Blue Chip Index Companies in the BUX