Nycomed

Nycomed is a European pharmaceutical company. Nycomed is privately owned primarily by the two private equity investors Nordic Capital and CSFB Alternative Capital. Production is located in Norway, Denmark, Poland, Finland, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, India, the United States and Estonia. Head office is located in Zürich, Switzerland. Total revenue was € 3,400 million (2006) and the group had 12,000 employees.

History

The company was started in Norway in 1874, as an agent of foreign pharmaceutical products. The founder was pharmacist M.Nyegaard. The company name was Nyegaard & Co. from 1890 until 1986 when it was changed to Nycomed. In 1913 it started producing Altana Pharma. This acquisition made Nycomed one of the world's 25 largest pharmaceutical companies.

Since then it has pursued a strategy of licensing new medicines from research companies and introducing them to Europe. The company provides specialist/hospital products (e.g. Tachosil) throughout Europe. General Practitioner and pharmacy medicines are also provided but in selected countries. Today the company is active throughout Europe and continues to expand into new markets.