Gedeon Richter founded the company in
Budapest.|alt=|left
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 suburb of
Budapest 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 products, antiseptic and febrifuge products, as well as
painkillers (
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 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 [the USA]." Facing a strong opposition from the US
pro-life groups, Gedeon decided in 1997 to end its efforts to place
mifepristone 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. In July 2007 Gedeon Richter signed a contract with
Barr Pharma for the production of
terbinafine, originally
Novartis'
Lamisil, where 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==