The United Laboratories, Inc., commonly known as Unilab (stylized in

uppercase Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (or more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (or more formally ''minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writing ...

), is a Philippine

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

pharmaceutical company based in

Mandaluyong Mandaluyong, officially the City of Mandaluyong ( fil, Lungsod ng Mandaluyong), is a first class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 425,758 people. Loca ...

. Unilab is the largest pharmaceutical company in the Philippines in terms of market share. As of 2016, it accounts for 25.1% of the market share in the Philippines ahead of foreign multinational companies

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 Pfizer ...

and GlaxoSmithKline.

History

United Laboratories or Unilab started out in 1945 as a small drugstore at Santo Cristo Street in Binondo,

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

with the name United Drug Co. It was co-founded by Jose Yao Campos, Mariano K. Tan, and Arsenio Ong. With the aid of Howard Q. Dee, Campos' brother-in-law, the company significantly grew within its first 14 years of operations and by 1959, the business was already exporting its products to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

. Unilab benefitted from Campos' close association with President Ferdinand Marcos, although the company already has had relative success prior to Marcos' presidency and the imposition of

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

in the 1970s. During the Marcos administration, Unilab was granted exclusive license to import pharmaceuticals. From the 1960s to the 2000s, Unilab established presence in other countries in Southeast Asia including Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, and Myanmar, as well as in United States of America, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Austria, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Macau, and Hong Kong. In 2002, Unilab entered the generics drug industry by setting up RiteMed. Unilab established Synnovate Pharma Corp. in 2013 marking the start of its involvement in plant-based medicine. In 2016, Unilab through its subsidiary RiteMed Philippines, Inc. fully acquired Pharex HealthCorp, a generic drug company under Pascual Laboratories Inc. Also in 2013, Unilab started the operation of Mount Grace Hospitals, Inc., a string of locally respected and prominent hospitals in key areas across the country which the company has shared ownership of. They call these health facilities as "partner hospitals," examples of which are Mary Mediatrix Medical Center in Lipa City, Batangas, HealthServ Los Banos Medical Center in Laguna, and Tagaytay Medical Center in Cavite, to name a few. In 2021, during 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 identi ...

, Unilab announced plans to set up a vaccine manufacturing plant by 2023.

Products

Unilab's products include branded medicine such as Biogesic and Alaxan and vitamin supplements such as Conzace and Enervon. Unilab also owns the generic drug brand RiteMed and Pharex, both of which are managed under its subsidiary RiteMed Philippines, Inc.

Subsidiaries

*Unilab, Inc. **Amherst Laboratories **Belmont Softgel Pharma Corporation **Bio-ONCO **Biofemme **Biomedis **LRI-Therapharma (formerly LR Imperial Inc. and Therapharma) **Medichem **Mount Grace Hospitals, Inc **Pediatrica **UAP (United American Pharmaceuticals) **Unilab Consumer Health (formerly the Proprietary Business (Probus) division) **Westmont *RiteMed **Pharex HealthCorp *UL Skin Sciences (formerly Innovitelle and Myra) *UL Health Services *UNAHCO (Univet Nutrition and Animal Health Company, formerly Univet Agricultural Products)

Former subsidiaries

*Myra (now a brand under UL Skin Sciences)

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.unilab.com.ph Pharmaceutical companies of the Philippines Philippine companies established in 1945 Companies based in Mandaluyong Pharmaceutical companies established in 1945 Privately held companies of the Philippines