The Italfarmaco Group began in Milan, where Italfarmaco SpA, was founded in 1938, one of the few Italian companies set up exclusively with Italian capital and also one of the few companies created just before the Second World War.

The first years of the company’s existence coincided with the start of the War, which meant that these were very difficult times. But in 1942, Italfarmaco launched two products on the market which spearheaded the company’s growth in turnover and quality: Glicerovalerovit and Ascorbin Calcium. From that moment onwards, Italfarmaco provided the market with a constant supply of proprietary medicinal products and focused on research.

In 1975, the Company embarked on an ambitious expansion process based on its research activities, setting up vertical integration bases for the production of strategic raw materials and undertaking acquisitions and alliances with chemical companies in and outside Italy.

In 1983 companies such as Chemi, SpA, one of the Group’s fine chemical plants located in Patrica, and Lifepharma Srl, a company until then focused on foreign markets, were acquired.

Subsequently, LPB Instituto Farmacéutico SpA was acquired in 1985, as a joint research centre owned by Italfarmaco and Sandoz Italia. It focused on specific fields of research, such as bone metabolism.

Whilst in Italy the Company became consolidated and gained competitive edge in the fields of Immunology, Cardiovascular and Antithrombotics. The Group made invested both nationally and internationally and started registering products such as Iron Proteinsuccinylate, Glycerylphosphorylcholine or Low Molecular Weight Heparin, in the main EU (then EEC) countries such as Germany, France or Spain.

In 1989, the company Zilliken SpA, founded in Geneva in 1919 as a producer and distributor of proprietary products under licence from German companies, joined the Group. Its portfolio was immediately expanded to include products such as Ferlatum, Selezen or Ifenec.

In June 1991, Italfarmaco, S.A. was set up in Spain. During the early years, significant investments were made with a view to rationalizing the Group’s production processes. The Spanish plant specialized in the production of liquids, while the Italian plant was dedicated to the Group’s production of solids.

Italfarmaco, S.A. established an ever-growing presence on the Spanish market by focusing on the Respiratory, Cardiovascular and Gynaecological fields. But subsequently, the company also positioned itself in the fields of Dermatology, Neurology, Oncology and Pediatrics.

Internationally, the Italfarmaco Group continued to grow both in manufacturing, with the creation of ITF Chemicals Ltda. in Brazil, and in sales, through the creation of subsidiaries in Greece, Russia, the United States, Chile, Portugal and France, in addition to signing many licensing and distribution agreements for its products throughout the rest of the world.