The Upjohn Company was a pharmaceutical manufacturing firm founded in 1886 in Hastings, Michigan, by Dr.

William E. Upjohn William Erastus Upjohn (June 15, 1853 – October 18, 1932) was an American medical doctor and both founder and president of The Upjohn Pharmaceutical Company. He was named Person of the Century by the Kalamazoo, Michigan, newspaper."Perso ...

who was an 1875 graduate of the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

medical school. The company was originally formed to make ''friable pills'', which were specifically designed to be easily digested. These could be "reduced to a powder under the thumb", a strong marketing argument at the time.

History

Upjohn developed a process for the large scale production of

cortisone Cortisone is a pregnene (21-carbon) steroid hormone. It is a naturally-occurring corticosteroid metabolite that is also used as a pharmaceutical prodrug; it is not synthesized in the adrenal glands. Cortisol is converted by the action of the ...

. The oxygen atom at the 11 position in this steroid is an absolute requirement for biological activity. There are however no known natural sources for starting materials that contain that feature. The only method for preparing this drug prior to 1952 was a lengthy synthesis starting from cholic acid isolated from bile. In 1952, two Upjohn biochemists, Dury Peterson and Herb Murray announced that they were able to introduce this crucial oxygen atom by fermentation of the steroid

progesterone Progesterone (P4) is an endogenous steroid and progestogen sex hormone involved in the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and embryogenesis of humans and other species. It belongs to a group of steroid hormones called the progestogens and is the ma ...

with a common mold of the genus Rhizopus. Over the next several years a group of chemists headed by John Hogg developed a process for preparing cortisone from the soybean sterol stigmasterol. The microbiological oxygenation is a key step in this process. Subsequently, Upjohn together with Schering biochemically converted cortisone into the more potent

steroid A steroid is a biologically active organic compound with four rings arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes that alter membrane fluidity; and ...

prednisone by a bacterial fermentation. In chemical research, the company is known for the development of the Upjohn dihydroxylation by V. VanRheenen, R. C. Kelly and D. Y. Cha in 1976. Upjohn's best known drugs before the acquisition by Pfizer were

Xanax Alprazolam, sold under the brand name Xanax, among others, is a fast-acting, potent tranquilizer of medium duration in the triazolobenzodiazepine (TBZD) class, which are benzodiazepines (BZDs) fused with a triazole ring. It is most commonl ...

, Halcion,

Motrin Ibuprofen is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that is used for treating pain, fever, and inflammation. This includes painful menstrual periods, migraines, and rheumatoid arthritis. It may also be used to close a patent ductus arte ...

, Lincocin, and Rogaine. In 1995, Upjohn merged with Pharmacia AB to form Pharmacia & Upjohn; the company was owned by

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfize ...

from 2002 until 2020. In 2015, Pfizer resurrected the Upjohn name for a division which manufactures and licenses drugs for which patents have expired; as of 2019, it planned to divest itself of this business in 2020. In July 2019, Pfizer announced plans to merge Upjohn with Mylan, with the new company to be known as Viatris. The merger was expected to close in the first half of 2020, but was delayed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. The merger was completed in November 2020 and the new company was named Viatris.

References

* ''Upjohn Co. v. United States'' (449 U.S. 383) (1981)

External links

Memories of The Upjohn Company
* http://www.michmarkers.com/startup.asp?startpage=S0582.htm {{Authority control 1886 establishments in Michigan 1995 disestablishments in Michigan 1995 mergers and acquisitions Companies based in Kalamazoo, Michigan Pharmaceutical companies established in 1886 Pharmaceutical companies disestablished in 1995 Defunct pharmaceutical companies of the United States Pfizer Life sciences industry

History

See also

References

External links