Hoechst Marion Roussel traces its roots to an aniline dye factory begun in 1863 at Höchst am Main, Germany. Venturing into the pharmaceutical industry, Hoechst’s first pharmaceutical product -- Antipyrin, introduced in 1883 -- was notable as the world’s first safe and effective synthetic painkiller and the first drug to leave the factory in a ready-dosaged and packaged form. Hoechst quickly achieved other important milestones, such as the development and production of tuberculin (1892), diptheria and tetanus antitoxins (1894 to 1897), and Novocain®, the first safe local anesthetic (1905). The discovery of Salvarsan® in 1910 marked the first effective treatment for syphilis and the birth of chemotherapy.

Some of Hoechst’s more recent contributions were spurred by the company’s leadership position in diabetes research and development. After helping produce the first insulin in Europe in 1923, Hoechst went on to introduce products to improve tolerability, such as crystalline insulin and the popular oral hypoglycemics Orinase® and DiaBeta®.

In 1995, Hoechst acquired Marion Merrell Dow, a pharmaceutical concern created from the 1989 merger of Marion Laboratories and Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals. Marion Laboratories was started in 1950 by Ewing Marion Kauffman in the basement of his St. Louis, Missouri home. The fledgling company introduced its first product for calcium supplementation, Os-Cal®, made of oyster shells, in 1951. William S. Merrell founded Merrell Dow, a drug manufacturer and retailer in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1828. Among Marion Merrell Dow’s best-known products were the Cardizem family of cardiovascular drugs, the nonsedating antihistamine Seldane, and Carafate, an anti-ulcer product.

Purchased by Hoechst in 1997, Roussel Uclaf was one of France’s most important pharmaceutical companies. Created in 1929 to produce Hemostyl, an antianaemic product, Roussel Uclaf held 10,000 patents worldwide by the ’90s. The company built its first fermentation plant in 1946, paving the way for develop-ment of such breakthrough antibiotic products as cefotaxime, a third-generation cephalosporin (1981), and the macrolide antibiotic roxithromycin (1987).

Bioanalytical Systems, Inc.