1886–1995: Formation and initial growth The company was founded in 1886 by Alfred Kern (1850–1893) and Edouard Sandoz (1853–1928) in
Basel (Switzerland) under the name
Chemiefirma Kern und Sandoz. Initially the company focused on production of dyes namely
alizarin blue and
auramine. When Kern died, the company changed its name to
Chemische Fabrik vormals Sandoz in 1895 and began producing pharmaceuticals for the first time the same year. As early as 1895, the first pharmaceutical substance called
antipyrine was produced to reduce fever. In 1899 they started producing
saccharin. In 1917, Sandoz entered pharmaceutical research when
Arthur Stoll (1887–1971) was hired, and, in 1929, Calcium Sandoz was introduced, laying the foundation research into modern calcium therapy. In 1918,
Arthur Stoll isolated
ergotamine from
ergot; the substance was eventually used to treat migraine and headaches and was introduced under the trade name
Gynergen in 1921. In 1938
Albert Hofmann produced the synthetic substance
lysergic acid diethylamide, better known as LSD. The psychoactive properties of this preparation were nevertheless not discovered until 1943, when Hofmann ingested a small amount by accident. From 1947 to the mid-60s, LSD was sold by Sandoz under the name
Delysid. It was marketed as a treatment for a wide variety of
mental ailments, ranging from
alcoholism to
sexual deviancy. Sandoz suggested in its marketing literature that psychiatrists take LSD themselves, to gain a better subjective understanding of the
schizophrenic experience, and many did exactly that and so did other scientific researchers. The Sandoz product received mass publicity as early as 1954, in a
Time magazine feature. Research on LSD peaked in the 1950s and early 1960s. The
CIA purchased quantities of LSD from Sandoz for use in its illegal human experimentation program known as
MKUltra. Sandoz withdrew the drug from the market in 1965. The drug became a cultural novelty of the 1960s after psychologist
Timothy Leary at
Harvard University began to promote its use for recreational and spiritual experiences among the general public. In 1939, Kern & Sandoz became Sandoz Ltd., a name it operated under for nearly sixty years. In 1963, Sandoz acquired Biochemie GmbH, which was producing and supplying scarce, urgently needed acid-resistant penicillin. In 1972, Sandoz acquired Delmark, Wasabröd, Wasa, the Swedish crisp bread producer
Wasa in 1982. In 1986, Velsicol Chemical Corporation acquired the
agrochemicals division of Sandoz. In 1994, Sandoz bought Gerber Products Company, expanding its research into biopharmacueticals. In 1995, the specialty chemicals division became an independent company under the name
Clariant, based in
Muttenz.
1996–2023: Merger with Ciba-Geigy and developments under Novartis On December 20, 1996, the merger of Sandoz and
Ciba-Geigy led to the creation of Novartis. The Sandoz brand name was then only used in the pharmaceutical business for over-the-counter medicines. In 2003, Novartis united its global generics businesses under a single global brand, reestablishing the name Sandoz as a division of Novartis. The Amifarma S.L. production plant in Palafolls, located near Barcelona, Spain was also acquired. In 2006,
Omnitrope, a recombinant human growth hormone, was approved by the
European Medicines Agency (EMA) and also became the first
biosimilar to receive approval from the FDA. In 2007, the first complex biosimilar,
Binocrit was approved in the EU. In 2009, Sandoz acquired EBEWE Pharma's specialty generic injectables division and in 2010, acquired Oriel Therapeutics. In 2012, Sandoz acquired Fougera Pharmaceuticals, entering the generic (topical) dermatology business. In November 2018, it was announced that Novartis would convert Sandoz into an independent entity over the next two years. In March 2019, it was announced that CEO Richard Francis had resigned for personal reasons and that Francesco Balestrieri, Sandoz's European head, had taken over management ad interim. Richard Saynor was appointed as CEO later in 2019. As part of the spin-off, Sandoz announced in June 2023 it would move its headquarters from
Holzkirchen, Germany to Basel, Switzerland. In July 2023, Sandoz launched a biosimilar version of
AbbVie Inc's
Humira, under the label,
Hyrimoz.
2023–present: Return to a standalone company In September 2023, Novartis announced that the spin-off had been approved by its shareholders and that it would be completed by the next month, resulting in Novartis shareholders receiving one Sandoz share for every five Novartis shares. Sandoz was listed on the
SIX Swiss Exchange with a market capitalization between $18 billion and $25bn. The B2B business unit of Sandoz, dedicated to supplying
active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), out-licensing of
Finished Dosage Forms (FDFs), and
Contract Manufacturing Organization (CMO) services, continues to operate from its global headquarters in
Kufstein, Austria, which was inaugurated in June 2023. The unit supplies over 200 customers in 77 countries and delivers around 800 million treatments per year. In January 2024, Sandoz announced it would acquire biosimilar drug for vision
Cimerli For $170 million from Coherus BioSciences. The acquisition was completed in March 2024. In February 2024, Sandoz US and its subsidiary Fougera Pharmaceuticals Inc. - indirect subsidiaries of Sandoz Group AG reached a USD 265 million settlement agreement in the US related to a generics direct purchaser class action lawsuit. In April 2024, Sandoz reached an agreement with
Amgen to resolve all patent disputes between the two companies relating to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved Sandoz
denosumab biosimilars. In November 2024, Sandoz inaugurated the new headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. In November 2025, Sandoz announced that it had entered into a strategic agreement with Evotec to acquire Just-Evotec Biologics (JEB), including its biologics manufacturing facility in
Toulouse,
France. == 1986 Sandoz warehouse fire in Schweizerhalle ==