The origins of the Acino – which was named “Schweizerhall” until 2008 – date back to 1836 when the company was founded around a saltworks operation near Basel, Switzerland. Subsequently, the company widened its activities to become both a manufacturer and trader and enlarged its portfolio with value added products including chemical specialties such as feeding stuffs, fertilizers and active pharmaceutical ingredients.
In 1994, the company went public on the Swiss stock exchange (SIX: ACIN) and gradually streamlined its business to focus on chemicals, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. The subsequent years saw a focusing of the company’s activities on advanced drug delivery with the acquisition of Cimex Pharma AG, a Swiss supplier of complex solid oral dosage forms, in 2004, and of Novosis AG, Europe’s second largest manufacturer of transdermal patches and of biodegradable implants, in 2006.
Foundation of “Schweizerhall” near Basel
Schweizerhall goes public at SIX Swiss stock exchange
Acquisition of Cimex Pharma in Liesberg, Switzerland
Acquisition of Novosis in Miesbach, Germany
Change of the group and subsidiaries name to “Acino”
Acquisition of combined Middle East and African Business of Cephalon
Acquisition of Mepha’s production and R&D facilities and the business in MEA, LATAM and Asia. Commercialization of products under the brand “Acino Switzerland”
Takeover by Avista Capital and Nordic Capital – Acino is delisted from the stock exchange
Acquisition of Copharm in Russia
Acquisition of PharmaStart in Ukraine (read more)
Acquisition of MENA operations and product rights from Norgine (read more)
Aquisition of Takeda’s manufacturing plant in Põlva, Estonia (read more)
In–licensing agreement for the combination painkiller Maxigesic of AFT
Divestment of Novosis patch and implant business
Headquarters move to Zurich
Acquisition of Litha Healthcare in South Africa (read more)
Distribution partnership with Merck in the CIS (read more)
Acquisition of Women’s Health portfolio in Russia
Acino opens new offices in Turkey and Egypt
Acquisition of parts of Takeda’s primary care portfolio in selected countries in the Middle East, Africa, and Ukraine (read more)
Acino receives EU GMP certification in Ukraine
Acino attains B-BBEE certification in South Africa
Acquisition of IlmixGroup portfolio and pipeline in Russia (read more)
Acino and Pharmax collaborate to align with UAE’s strategy to become a regional pharmaceutical manufacturing hub (read more)
Merz Therapeutics and Acino sign distribution agreement in Ukraine, CIS and Mongolia (read more)
Abu Dhabi based ADQ, one of the region’s largest holding companies with a broad portfolio of major enterprises spanning key sectors, signs agreement to acquire Acino
Takeover by ADQ investment and holding company
Acquisition of selected Aspen’s brands in South Africa (read more)
Integration of Pharmax Pharmaceuticals (read more)
Divestment of Acino Russia. Acino no longer does business in Russia.
Acino significantly expands presence and capabilities in Latin America through acquisition of M8 Pharmaceuticals (read more)
New regional leadership and hub in Latin America (read more)
Acino attains Level 1 B-BBEE status in South Africa for the fifth year in a row
Portfolio expansion with several novel products (read more)
The story continues
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