H. Lundbeck A/S (commonly known simply as Lundbeck) is a Danish international

pharmaceutical company The pharmaceutical industry discovers, develops, produces, and markets drugs or pharmaceutical drugs for use as medications to be administered to patients (or self-administered), with the aim to cure them, vaccinate them, or alleviate sympt ...

engaged in the research, development, manufacturing, marketing and sale of pharmaceuticals across the world. The company’s products are targeted at brain diseases, including depression, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and migraine. Headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, Lundbeck has approximately 5,300 employees in more than 50 countries, and their products are registered in more than 100 countries. They have production facilities in Denmark, France and Italy and their research centers are based in Denmark and the US. Lundbeck is listed on the

Copenhagen Stock Exchange The Nasdaq Copenhagen, formerly known as the Copenhagen Stock Exchange ( da, Københavns Fondsbørs), is an international marketplace for Danish securities, including shares, bonds, treasury bills and notes, and financial futures and options. ...

(CSE). Lundbeck is a full member of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) and of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA)

History

The company was founded by

Hans Lundbeck Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi a ...

in 1915, and was initially a

trading company Trading companies are businesses working with different kinds of products which are sold for consumer, business, or government purposes. Trading companies buy a specialized range of products, maintain a stock or a shop, and deliver products to cus ...

supplying a variety of goods to the Danish market, including

machinery A machine is a physical system using power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromolecul ...

for

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a ...

aluminium foil Aluminium foil (or aluminum foil in North American English; often informally called tin foil) is aluminium prepared in thin metal leaves with a thickness less than ; thinner gauges down to are also commonly used. Standard household foil is typ ...

artificial sweetener A sugar substitute is a food additive that provides a sweetness like that of sugar while containing significantly less food energy than sugar-based sweeteners, making it a zero-calorie () or low-calorie sweetener. Artificial sweeteners may ...

s, and photographic equipment. Lundbeck entered the pharmaceutical market in 1924, importing

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, and Health promotion ...

s and

cosmetics Cosmetics are constituted mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources, or synthetically created ones. Cosmetics have various purposes. Those designed for personal care and skin care can be used to cleanse or protec ...

from companies based in other European and American countries. By the late 1930s, Lundbeck had begun to produce its own medicinal products and had established its own

research Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness t ...

department. Production continued during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, although it was limited due to a lack of raw materials. After the war, Lundbeck continued to grow and in 1957 the company introduced Truxal ( chlorprothixene) for the treatment of schizophrenia, entering the market for brain disorders. In 1954, the Lundbeck Foundation was established to maintain and expand the activities of Lundbeck Group and also to provide funding for scientific research of the highest quality. From the late 1970s and up through the 1980s, Lundbeck diverted its old agency business and thus became a dedicated pharmaceutical company focusing on the production of drugs used to treat disorders and diseases of the

central nervous system The central nervous system (CNS) is the part of the nervous system consisting primarily of the brain and spinal cord. The CNS is so named because the brain integrates the received information and coordinates and influences the activity of all p ...

. In 1989, Lundbeck launched the antidepressant Celexa (

citalopram Citalopram, sold under the brand name Celexa among others, is an antidepressant of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class. It is used to treat major depressive disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder, and soc ...

), which became the cornerstone for the company's international expansion and in 2009 Lundbeck, bought Ovation and established a commercial platform in the USA. In 2012, to focus on newer, strategic CNS-products, Lundbeck sold a portfolio of non-core products to Recordati S.p.A. (Recordati Rare Diseases). In 2014 Lundbeck acquired Chelsea Therapeutics for up to $658 million. In March 2018, the company acquired Prexton Therapeutics for up to €905 million ($1.1 billion) In June 2018, the former Millennium Pharmaceuticals CEO, Deborah Dunsire, was named the new CEO of Lundbeck. In September 2019 Lundbeck announced it would acquire Alder BioPharmaceuticals $18 per share, valuing Alder at almost $2 billion.

Key products

Lundbeck markets a number of different pharmaceuticals for the treatment of psychiatric and neurological disorders. The most recently launched compounds include: Rexulti (depression and schizophrenia), Brintellix (depression) and Abilify Maintena (schizophrenia and bipolar 1). Lundbeck manufactures drugs such as:

Products under development

* Brexpiprazole for Alzheimer's disease, bipolar disease and PTSD * Foliglurax for Parkinson's disease * Lu AF35700 for schizophrenia

Controversy

Lundbeck formerly held the only license to manufacture

pentobarbital Pentobarbital (previously known as pentobarbitone in Britain and Australia) is a short-acting barbiturate typically used as a sedative, a preanesthetic, and to control convulsions in emergencies. It can also be used for short-term treatment o ...

(Nembutal) in the United States. The drug is commonly used for execution by lethal injection in the United States (either as part of a three drug cocktail or by itself). After coming under criticism for not adding an ‘end user’ agreement to prevent importers from selling Nembutal to American prisons for use in executions, Lundbeck announced that it would not sell Nembutal to prisons in U.S. states that carry out executions. By introducing a new distribution system, Nembutal will be supplied exclusively through a specialty pharmacy drop ship program that will deny distribution of the product to prisons in U.S. states currently active in carrying out the death penalty by lethal injection. In December 2011 Lundbeck divested a portfolio of products including Nembutal to US pharmaceutical company Akorn Inc. As part of the agreement, Akorn committed to continue with Lundbeck's restricted distribution program for Nembutal, which was implemented to restrict the use of the product in the US. Since 2012, US prisons have reported a serious shortage of Nembutal.

2013 fine

On June 19, 2013, the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

imposed a fine of €93.8 million on Lundbeck and fined several producers of generic pharmaceuticals a total of €52.2 million after Lundbeck made agreements in 2002 with the other companies to delay less expensive generics of Lundbeck's

from entering the market. In return for the ability to maintain a

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...

on the drug's manufacture, Lundbeck offered payments and other kickbacks.

References

External links

*
The Lundbeck Institute
{{Authority control Pharmaceutical companies of Denmark Life science companies based in Copenhagen Danish companies established in 1915 Valby Pharmaceutical companies established in 1915 Danish brands Multinational companies headquartered in Denmark Companies based in Copenhagen Municipality