Celltech Group plc was a leading British-based

biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...

business based in Slough. It was listed on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pa ...

and was a constituent of the

FTSE 100 Index The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is a share index of the 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange with (in principle) the highest mar ...

History

Celltech was founded by

Gerard Fairtlough Gerard Fairtlough (5 September 1930 – 15 December 2007) was an English author, speaker and management thinker. Born on Hayling Island, Hampshire, Fairtlough trained initially as a biochemist at Cambridge University. He worked for 25 years in ...

in 1980 with finance from the National Enterprise Board. Amongst the work conducted at Celltech was the cloning of the glutamine synthetase (GS) gene in CHO cells leading to the creation of a biotechnology tool still widely used to express recombinant eukaryotic proteins. In 1999 Celltech led consolidation in the UK biosciences market merging with ''Chiroscience plc'', after which it was briefly referred to as ''Celltech Chiroscience,'' and then buying ''Medeva plc''. Then in 2000 it bought ''Cistron'', a US biosciences business. It expanded into Germany in 2001 buying Thiemann, a German biosciences business, and went on to buy Oxford Glycosciences in July 2003 for £102m. Celltech was acquired by UCB, a Belgian drugmaker, in 2004. Since then it has been known as ''UCB Celltech''.

Operations

The Company was engaged in research and development of therapies for patients with serious diseases. Products included:Businessweek: Celltech Group
*

Tussionex Hydrocodone, also known as dihydrocodeinone, is an opioid used to treat pain and as a cough suppressant. It is taken by mouth. Typically it is dispensed as the combination acetaminophen/hydrocodone or ibuprofen/hydrocodone for pain severe en ...

for

cough A cough is a sudden expulsion of air through the large breathing passages that can help clear them of fluids, irritants, foreign particles and microbes. As a protective reflex, coughing can be repetitive with the cough reflex following three ph ...

s *

Zaroxolyn Metolazone is a thiazide diuretic, thiazide-like diuretic marketed under the brand names Zytanix, Metoz, Zaroxolyn, and Mykrox. It is primarily used to treat congestive heart failure and hypertension, high blood pressure. Metolazone indirectly d ...

for resistant

edema Edema, also spelled oedema, and also known as fluid retention, dropsy, hydropsy and swelling, is the build-up of fluid in the body's tissue. Most commonly, the legs or arms are affected. Symptoms may include skin which feels tight, the area ma ...

Methylphenidate Methylphenidate, sold under the brand names Ritalin and Concerta among others, is the most widely prescribed central nervous system (CNS) stimulant medication used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and, to a lesser extent ...

for ADHD *

Amphetamine Amphetamine (contracted from alpha- methylphenethylamine) is a strong central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), narcolepsy, and obesity. It is also commonly used ...

for ADHD and narcolepsy, as 5 mg Dexedrine tablets * Semprex-D, an

antihistamine Antihistamines are drugs which treat allergic rhinitis, common cold, influenza, and other allergies. Typically, people take antihistamines as an inexpensive, generic (not patented) drug that can be bought without a prescription and provide ...

and decongestant *

Inotuzumab ozogamicin Inotuzumab ozogamicin, sold under the brand name Besponsa, is an antibody-drug conjugate medication used to treat relapsed or refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The medication consists of a humanized monoclonal antib ...

and gemtuzumab ozogamicin, both through Celltech's collaboration with Wyeth.

References

{{Authority control Pharmaceutical companies established in 1980 Companies based in Slough Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange 1980 establishments in England Pharmaceutical companies disestablished in 2004 2004 disestablishments in England

History

Operations

See also

References