William H. Rorer, Inc was an American multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in

Fort Washington, Pennsylvania Fort Washington is a census-designated place and suburb of Philadelphia in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The CDP, as of 2020, is entirely in Upper Dublin Township. The population was 5,446 at the 2010 census. History Prior ...

. It was founded in 1910 by William H. Rorer, a

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

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 ...

. The business operated as a small concern, primarily selling pain relievers manufactured elsewhere. It wasn't until after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

that the company's fortunes forever changed with the introduction of

Maalox Maalox was a brand of antacid owned by Sanofi. Their main product is a flavored liquid containing a suspension of aluminum hydroxide and magnesium hydroxide, which act to neutralize or reduce stomach acid, for the purpose of relieving the sympto ...

which would become the world's best selling antacid.

History

William H. Rorer founded William H. Rorer, Inc. in 1910 while working as a

. The business remained small, primarily selling pain relievers until 1949 when it introduced

was developed in collaboration between William H. Rorer, Inc. and a medical doctor and researcher specializing in gastrointestinal issues, Alison Howe Price from

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. The collaboration came about after

when Claude Newhart, a salesman and

for the company had an idea that he thought might change the company’s fortunes. According to the Rorer family, he suggested that instead of selling pain relievers that the company didn’t manufacture, they should create their own products. Gerald Rorer, president of Rorer and son of the founder, told Mr. Newhart to “go and find something.” Mr. Newhart took up the challenge and contacted an old acquaintance from his student days employed at a drugstore in

, Martin H. Rehfuss, who happened to be chief of medicine at Thomas Jefferson Hospital. It was Mr. Rehfuss who introduced Mr. Newhart to Dr. Price. It wasn’t long before Mr. Newhart convinced Price to become a consultant for the

based William H. Rorer, Inc. And it so happened that the first product the partnership produced was

. It eventually would become the world's best selling antacid and forever change the company's fortunes. In 1965 the company introduced

Quaalude Methaqualone is a hypnotic sedative. It was sold under the brand names Quaalude ( ) and Sopor among others, which contained 300 mg of methaqualone, and sold as a combination drug under the brand name Mandrax, which contained 250 mg me ...

(quiet interlude), similar in spelling to its top-selling antacid, Maalox, but it turned out to be far less successful for the company. The FDA withdrew Quaalude in 1984.

Headquarters

Rorer's was headquartered in

Products

Mergers and acquisitions

For many years

comprised a large proportion of the drugmaker's sales. In order to diversify, Rorer merged with AmChem in 1968, an agricultural herbicide producer to form Rorer-AmChem. The merger did not turn out to be profitable and in 1977 Rorer sold AmChem to

Union Carbide Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) is an American chemical company headquartered in Seadrift, Texas. It has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow Chemical Company since 2001. Union Carbide produces chemicals and polymers that undergo one or more f ...

. By the late 1980s, the pharmaceutical industry had experienced significant mergers, making it very difficult for Rorer to compete. In 1990 the company merged with Rhone-Poulenc SA, France's largest pharmaceuticals' company, for 3.2 billion dollars. At the time of the merger, the

lineup still represented one of the company's most important revenue streams.

References

{{reflist Pharmaceutical companies established in 1910 Multinational companies headquartered in the United States Clinical trial organizations Research and development in the United States 1910 establishments in Pennsylvania 1990 mergers and acquisitions