Grifols

Grifols, S.A. () is a global healthcare company and leading producer of plasma-derived medicines founded in Barcelona, Spain, in 1909. With a workforce of over 23,800 employees, Grifols serves more than 110 countries and regions and maintains a direct presence in over than 30.

Principally a producer of blood plasma–based products, a field in which it is the European leader and third largest worldwide, and other biopharmaceuticals, the company is also in transfusion medicine, supplying devices, instruments and reagents for clinical testing laboratories, in addition to clinical diagnostic technologies. Grifols also provides biological supplies for life-science research, clinical trials and for manufacturing pharmaceutical and diagnostic products.

Grifols is focused on four main therapeutic areas: immunology, infectious diseases, pulmonology and critical care.

History

Grifols began in 1909 when hematologist and scientist Josep Antoni Grífols i Roig founded a clinical analysis laboratory in Barcelona: the Instituto Central de Análisis Clínicos, Bacteriológicos y Químicos, a precursor to Laboratorios Grifols. In Spain, Grífols i Roig patented the first instrument for carrying out indirect blood transfusions, the transfusion flebula. Post-war, Grífols i Roig and his sons, Josep Antoni Grífols i Lucas, a hematologist, and Víctor Grífols i Lucas, a chemist and pharmacist, founded Laboratorios Grifols, which began the start of the business dedicated to clinical analysis and the preparation of freeze-dried plasma.

In 1952, for the first time in the world, the results of a systematic application of the plasmapheresis technique in humans was published in the British Medical Journal thanks to a study led by Josep Antoni Grífols i Lucas and in 1958. Plasma fractionation began at Grifols in 1957 in Barcelona. In 1972, production was transferred to the new industrial plant in Parets del Vallès, Barcelona.

Control of the company was handed down to Víctor Grifols Roura in 1987, when Grifols created the holding company Grupo Grifols. This unified the commercial company with its clinical diagnostic, plasma-derived medicines and parenteral operations. From there, in 1988 Grifols opened its first subsidiary, in Portugal, marking the beginning of the company’s international expansion.

Stock Listings

Grifols began trading on the adrid stock exchangein 2006 and was listed on the BEX35 the exchange’s benchmark index, in 2008. With the acquisition of Talecris Biotherapeutics in 2011, Grifols began trading on the NASDAQ.

Acquisitions

Grifols acquired its first group of plasma donation centers (43 in the U.S.) in 2002, taking over the company SeraCare, now known as Biomat. The following year, Grifols acquired Alpha Therapeutic Corporation-Mitsubishi, including its plasma fractionation plant in Los Angeles, California. In 2011, Grifols acquired the North American company Talecris Biotherapeutics, making Grifols the third-largest manufacturer of plasma-derived medicines in the world.

Grifols acquired Novartis' blood transfusion diagnostics unit, based in Emeryville, California, in 2014. It was a part of Chiron, which had been acquired by Novartis in 2006.  Grifols grew its transfusion medicine business with the acquisition of Hologic’s transfusion unit in 2017, leading the company’s creation of reagents and instrumentation based on NAT (nucleic acid testing) technology.

In 2018, Grifols acquired the German company Haema and its network of donation centers and, in 2019, Grifols grew its network of donation centers even further with the addition of Interstate Blood Bank Inc. Today, Grifols has approximately 400 donation centers worldwide, with the majority of them located in the U.S.

Following a major equity investment in 2015, Grifols acquired the remaining shares of Alkahest in 2020 to help enhance the company’s discovery research and development to identify therapies based upon an understanding of the human plasma proteome. In 2021, the company acquired the remaining capital of GigaGen, a U.S. biotechnology company specialized in the early discovery and development of recombinant polyclonal antibodies, after having acquired a significant stake in 2017. In 2022, Grifols acquired Biotest, a German manufacturer and provider of plasma-derived medicines.

Strategic Alliances

Grifols’ Global Plasma Self-sufficiency Program has helped establish public-private alliances around the world.

In 2020, Grifols signed an agreement with Egypt’s National Service Projects Organization to establish Grifols Egypt for Plasma Derivatives, a joint venture building the first integrated platform for sourcing and producing plasma medicines in Africa and the Middle East. This was followed by a long-term agreement with Canadian Blood Services in 2022, to help accelerate immunoglobulin self-sufficiency in Canada. Grifols also sought to strengthen and enhance China’s healthcare system by entering into a strategic alliance with Haier Group, a global leader in innovation, in late 2023 to further develop the Chinese plasma market, building on a strategic alliance it had established with Shanghai RAAS, a leading Chinese company in the plasma-derivatives sector, in 2020.

Between January and March 2024, short seller fund Gotham City Research published several reports questioning Grifols financial accounting. In January 2024, following the first of such reports, Grifols filed a lawsuit against the short seller for making “false and misleading statements”. In February 2024, Grifols rejected what it considered were Gotham's "malicious, false and misleading insinuations" that had the "sole objective of destabilising Grifols and causing doubts amongst institutional investors". In April 2024, Grifols announced it was bringing in independent directors to improve its governance. In July 2024, the Grifols family and Canadian fund Brookfield agreed to evaluate a possible joint takeover bid for the company with the intent to delist it from the Nasdaq and the Bolsa de Madrid stock exchanges. In November of this year, Grifols announced that takeover talks with Brookfield terminated and Spain’s High Court also announced that it had opened a probe into U.S.-based short seller Gotham City Research for the possible violation of market and consumer protection laws.

Main products

Grifols is one of the major world supplier of IVIG, albumin, Factor VIII and other plasma-derived products. The therapies Grifols produces include:

* Immunoglobulins to treat patients with primary and secondary immunodeficiencies, neurological disorders and more.
* Albumin to treat patients with intensive care needs and patients with liver disease.
* Factor VIII to treat patients with hemophilia A and other blood-related disorders.
* Alpha-1 to treat patients with genetic emphysema, a type of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
* Antithrombin to treat patients with hereditary antithrombin deficiency (a blood-clotting problem).
* Specific hyperimmune immunoglobulins used post-exposure to prevent rabies, tetanus and other diseases.

Industrial operations

Grifols currently has 15 industrial facilities in seven countries, including a flagship facility in Clayton, North Carolina (U.S.) – one of the world’s largest blood plasma  fractionation sites.

Grifols’ plasma fractionation capacity is currently at 22 million liters per year, with the aim of reaching 26 million by 2026, as part of the company’s continued efforts to meet the growing demand for plasma-derived medicines. All of the company’s facilities are designed and built by Grifols Engineering, which also offers its technology and consulting services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors.

Research

The company has more than 1,200 researchers working across its 12 Research & Development centers around the world. The company is focused on the development of potential new treatment options derived both from human plasma as well as a new class of recombinant antibody drugs. Grifols is researching a number of pathologies – from immunodeficiencies to respiratory disorders to age-related conditions – to create new therapeutics. It is also developing new diagnostics for blood screening.

References

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Companies listed on the Nasdaq
Pharmaceutical companies of Spain
Pharmaceutical companies established in 1940
Manufacturing companies based in Barcelona
IBEX 35
Companies listed on the Madrid Stock Exchange
Spanish brands
Spanish companies established in 1940
Multinational companies headquartered in Spain
2006 initial public offerings