Mundipharma International Limited is a British multinational research-based pharmaceutical company owned by members of the

Sackler family The Sackler family is an American family who owned the pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma and later founded Mundipharma. Purdue Pharma, and some members of the family, have faced lawsuits regarding overprescription of addictive pharmaceutical dr ...

with locations in United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and Singapore. In Germany, Mundipharma is a subsidiary of Mundipharma International Limited and Mundipharma AG. Its global headquarters is located at the

Cambridge Science Park The Cambridge Science Park, founded by Trinity College, Cambridge, Trinity College in 1970, is the oldest science park in the United Kingdom. It is a concentration of science and technology related businesses, and has strong links with the nea ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, England.

History

The company was founded in 1967 in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, Germany by the brothers

Raymond Raymond is a male given name of Germanic origin. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic ᚱᚨᚷ� ...

and

Mortimer Sackler Mortimer David Sackler (December 7, 1916 – March 24, 2010) was an American-born psychiatrist and entrepreneur. He co-owned Purdue Pharma with his brothers Arthur and Raymond. During his lifetime, Sackler's philanthropy included donations to ...

, the owners of

Purdue Pharma Purdue Pharma L.P., formerly the Purdue Frederick Company (1892–2019), was an American privately held pharmaceutical company founded by John Purdue Gray. It was sold to Arthur Sackler, Arthur, Mortimer Sackler, Mortimer, and Raymond Sackler in 1 ...

at the time. Between 1970 and 1974 two pharmaceutical companies were acquired. It was the chemical-pharmaceutical factory ''Krugmann GmbH'' and the pharmaceutical factory ''Dr. med. Hans Voigt GmbH''. In 1975 the company moved to

Limburg an der Lahn Limburg an der Lahn (, ; officially abbreviated ''Limburg a. d. Lahn'') is the district seat of Limburg-Weilburg in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Limburg lies in western Hesse between the Taunus and the Westerwald on the river Lahn. The t ...

in Germany. The first factory building was designed in 1973 by architect

Marcel Breuer Marcel Lajos Breuer ( ; 21 May 1902 – 1 July 1981) was a Hungarian-American modernist architect and furniture designer. He moved to the United States in 1937 and became a naturalized American citizen in 1944. At the Bauhaus he designed the Was ...

and built in the Dietkircher Höhe industrial park. The last completion of a structural expansion took place in 2010. The company is exploring a sale as part of the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy process and Sackler family settlement. It could fetch as much as $5 billion according to Bloomberg News.

Organization structure

The research area is outsourced to the following companies: * Mundipharma Research GmbH & Co. KG, Limburg an der Lahn (closed in 2018) * Mundipharma Research Ltd., Cambridge

Criticism

Tobacco industry collaboration

Mundipharma has been condemned by healthcare professionals for its April 16th 2024 announcement that it had entered into a collaboration with

Vectura Vectura Group Limited is a British pharmaceuticals company based in Chippenham, England which develops inhaled medicines and makes inhaler devices. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by Philip Morris International i ...

, a company owned by Tobacco Transnational Philip Morris.

Opioid marketing

In relation the

opioid epidemic The opioid epidemic, also referred to as the opioid crisis, is the rapid increase in the overuse, misuse or abuse, and overdose deaths attributed either in part or in whole to the class of drugs called opiates or opioids since the 1990s. It inc ...

Mundipharma has been criticized for using similar methods to Purdue Pharma to sell opioids in Europe.

References

External links

* {{Pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry in the United Kingdom British companies established in 1952 Chemical companies established in 1952 Companies based in Cambridge Dental companies of the United Kingdom Health care companies of the United Kingdom Multinational companies headquartered in England Personal care companies of the United Kingdom Pharmaceutical companies of England Pharmaceutical companies established in 1952 Privately held companies of England