Galderma SA is an American-Swiss pharmaceutical company specializing in

dermatological Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist is a specialist medic ...

treatments and

skin care Skin care or skincare is the practice of maintaining and improving the health and appearance of the skin. It includes washing, moisturizing, protecting from the sun, and treating skin problems like acne and dryness. Skin care can help prevent i ...

products. Formerly a subsidiary of

L'Oréal L'Oréal S.A. () is a French multinational personal care corporation registered in Paris

and

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

, it was acquired by a consortium of private institutional investors in 2019 and remained under their ownership until its IPO in 2024. Galderma was formed in 1981 as a joint venture between

and

L'Oréal L'Oréal S.A. () is a French multinational personal care corporation registered in Paris

, and later became a wholly owned subsidiary of Nestlé. Since 2019, it has belonged to an investment consortium. The company, headed by president and CEO

Flemming Ørnskov Flemming Ørnskov (born 24 January 1958) is a Danish businessman. He has been the chief executive officer (CEO) of Galderma since October 2019. He was previously the CEO of Shire plc, a FTSE 100 specialty biopharmaceutical company as of 30 Apr ...

(ex-

Shire Shire () is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries. It is generally synonymous with county (such as Cheshire and Worcestershire). British counties are among the oldes ...

), has 33 sites in 100 countries with a worldwide network of distributors and employs more than 4,600 people. The headquarters is based in

Zug Zug (Standard German: , Alemannic German: ; ; ; ; )Named in the 16th century. is the largest List of cities in Switzerland, town and capital of the Swiss canton of Zug. Zug is renowned as a hub for some of the wealthiest individuals in the wor ...

, Switzerland.

History

The origins of Galderma date back to 1961 and the founding of the Owen dermatology company in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, Texas, USA by M. Owen. In 1979, Hans Schaefer founded the International Center for Dermatological Research (CIRD) in

Sophia Antipolis Sophia Antipolis is a 2,400 hectare technology park in southeast France, and as of 2021 home to 2,500 companies, valued today at more than 5.6 billion euros and employing more than 38,000 people counting more than 80 nationalities. The park is ...

, with the support of the CEO of

L'Oréal L'Oréal S.A. () is a French multinational personal care corporation registered in Paris

François Dalle François Dalle (), born on 18 March 1918 in Hesdin (Pas-de-Calais, France) and died on 9 August 2005 in Geneva, Switzerland, was a French company director and business executive. He transformed L’Oréal from an SME, founded in 1909 by Eugèn ...

, who wanted to diversify his cosmetic research into the drug sector. At the same time,

, which also had ambitions in dermatology bought the Owen laboratory. L'Oréal and Nestlé joined forces to create Galderma in 1981 (CIRD became Galderma R&D). It was a joint venture between the two companies. Galderma expanded by specializing in the research, development, and commercialization of products for

dermatology Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the Human skin, skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A List of dermatologists, ...

(skincare) patients. It reached a significant size, with 38 subsidiaries present in 100 countries in the 2010s. It diversified into aesthetic medicine products with the

botulinum toxin Botulinum toxin, or botulinum neurotoxin (commonly called botox), is a neurotoxic protein produced by the bacterium ''Clostridium botulinum'' and related species. It prevents the release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine from axon en ...

Azzalure, a field in which it strengthened in 2010 with the acquisition of the Swedish medical device company Q-Med. In 2014, Nestlé bought back all the shares from L'Oréal, thus creating a new unit of Nestlé group called Nestle Skin Health. The transaction had a value of €3.1 billion (US$4.23 billion) and was paid for by Nestlé with 21.2 million L'Oréal shares. In 2019, Nestlé sold Galderma for $10.2 billion to a

consortium A consortium () is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations, or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a ...

comprising the EQT VIII fund, Luxinva (a wholly owned subsidiary of

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) is a sovereign wealth fund owned by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, founded to invest funds on behalf of the Government of Abu Dhabi. It manages the emirate's excess oil reserves a ...

), PSP Investments and other institutional investors. Since then, it has been the largest independent dermatology company in the world. In November 2021, Galderma bought California-based Alastin, a firm specializing in specialist skincare products, for an undisclosed price. In June 2022, Galderma announced positive results in two Phase III trials for liquid botulinum toxin A, showing RelabotulinumtoxinA was well tolerated. This result primes the company to apply for approval in the US and other global markets. Also in June 2022, Galderma announced positive data from the Phase III trial, showing the efficacy and safety of Nemolizumab in patients with

prurigo nodularis Prurigo nodularis (PN), also known as nodular prurigo, is a skin disorder characterized by pruritic (itchy), nodular lesions, which commonly appear on the trunk, arms and legs. Patients often present with multiple excoriated nodules caused by ch ...

. Nemolizumab is a monoclonal antibody that blocks the signaling of IL-31, a neuroimmune cytokine involved in the pathogenesis of prurigo Nodularis. On 6 March 2023, Galderma announced its intention to list on the

Swiss stock exchange SIX Swiss Exchange (formerly SWX Swiss Exchange), based in Zürich, is Switzerland's principal stock exchange (the other being BX Swiss). SIX Swiss Exchange also trades other securities such as Swiss government bonds and derivatives such as sto ...

. The

IPO An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

took place on 22 March 2024 and was one of the biggest in Europe in two years, and the largest in Switzerland since 2017. The stock price went up to 62,68

Swiss franc The Swiss franc, or simply the franc, is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also legal tender in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia which is surrounded by Swiss territory. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) iss ...

s, up from the IPO price at 53 francs per share.

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician a ...

reports that including debt, Galderma's total market value should come out in the range of $18.69 billion to $19.72 billion. The company plans to repay debt with offering proceeds.

Activities

Galderma provides a range of over-the-counter and prescription dermatological products for skin care, aesthetics and treatment of conditions including

acne Acne ( ), also known as ''acne vulgaris'', is a long-term Cutaneous condition, skin condition that occurs when Keratinocyte, dead skin cells and Sebum, oil from the skin clog hair follicles. Typical features of the condition include comedo, ...

rosacea Rosacea is a long-term skin condition that typically affects the face. It results in redness, pimples, swelling, and small and superficial dilated blood vessels. Often, the nose, cheeks, forehead, and chin are most involved. A red, en ...

psoriasis Psoriasis is a long-lasting, noncontagious autoimmune disease characterized by patches of abnormal skin. These areas are red, pink, or purple, dry, itchy, and scaly. Psoriasis varies in severity from small localized patches to complete b ...

and other steroid-responsive

dermatoses A skin condition, also known as cutaneous condition, is any medical condition that affects the integumentary system—the organ system that encloses the body and includes skin, nails, and related muscle and glands. The major function of this sys ...

(SRD),

onychomycosis Onychomycosis, also known as tinea unguium, is a fungal infection of the nail. Symptoms may include white or yellow nail discoloration, thickening of the nail, and separation of the nail from the nail bed. Fingernails may be affected, but it is ...

(fungal nail infections), pigmentary disorders,

skin cancer Skin cancers are cancers that arise from the Human skin, skin. They are due to the development of abnormal cells (biology), cells that have the ability to invade or metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. It occurs when skin cells grow ...

and

skin aging The human skin is the outer covering of the body and is the largest organ of the integumentary system. The skin has up to seven layers of ectodermal tissue guarding muscles, bones, ligaments and internal organs. Human skin is similar to most ...

. Galderma's activities are divided into three business units: aesthetics, consumer care, and prescription medicine. Galderma's products are sold in more than 100 countries.

Botulinum toxin

In 2007, Galderma and

Ipsen Ipsen is a French biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Paris, France, with a focus on drug development and commercialization in three therapeutic areas: oncology, rare diseases and neuroscience. Ipsen is one of the world's top 15 biopha ...

signed a licensing agreement for the distribution of the

Dysport, known as Azzalure in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. More than 40 million treatments have been performed in the United States and the European Union. The main brands are

Restylane Restylane is the trade name for a range of injectable fillers with a specific formulation of hyaluronic acid (HA). In the United States, Restylane was the first hyaluronic acid filler to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FD ...

, Azzalure, Dysport, Alluzience, Sculptra and Relfydess (relabotulinumtoxinA), which received a positive decision for use in Australia and in the European Union in July 2024.

Consumer care

Galderma's products are available over-the-counter to consumers. The main consumer care brands are Cetaphil, with its range of

products for all ages; Benzac and Differin OTC for mild-to-moderate acne; and Loceryl, used to treat fungal nail infections, and Alastin.

Prescription Medicine

Disease areas are

atopic dermatitis Atopic dermatitis (AD), also known as atopic eczema, is a long-term type of inflammation of the skin. Atopic dermatitis is also often called simply eczema but the same term is also used to refer to dermatitis, the larger group of skin conditi ...

, dermato-

oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's Etymology, etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγ ...

and

. The main brands are Aklief, Benzac,

Cetaphil Cetaphil or is a line of skin care products from the Switzerland, Swiss company Galderma, including cleansers, bar soap, cream, lotion, and moisturizers. It was developed in 1947 in Texas and is sold at over seventy grocery stores and Pharmacy# ...

, Epiduo, Epiduo Forte, Twyneo, Epsolay, Loceryl, Differin, Soolantra, Mirvaso, Oracea, Metvix and Nemluvio which received US

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...

approval for adult patients living with

in August 2024 and for patients with

in December 2024.

Research and development

The company invests substantially in

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in some countries as OKB, experiment and design, is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products. R&D constitutes the first stage ...

and sources new treatments from its own activities and from its partnerships with others. It divides its

departments between six sites: *

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

, Switzerland *

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

, Sweden *

, Texas *Bridgewater,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

* Baie d’Urfé, Canada

Production

Galderma has manufacturing facilities at the following locations: * The

Alby-sur-Chéran Alby-sur-Chéran (, literally ''Alby on Chéran''; ) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. Geography The Chéran flows northwestward through the north-eastern part of the commun ...

plant in France, inaugurated in 1994, supplies over 70 countries. * The Baie d'Urfé (

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

) facility in Canada started production in 2000 and supplies Cetaphil globally. * The plant in

, Sweden, manufactures aesthetic and corrective products. * The

Hortolândia Hortolândia is a Brazilian municipality in the interior of the state of São Paulo. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Campinas and the List of microregions of São Paulo (state), Mesoregion and Microregion of Campinas. It is located northw ...

site in the state of

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, Brazil serves South America.

Governance

, chief executive officer * Thomas Dittrich chief financial officer * Adrian Murphy, head of global operations * Allison Pinkham, chief human resources officer

History

Activities

Botulinum toxin

Consumer care

Prescription Medicine

Research and development

Production

Governance

Notes and references

See also