Octapharma AG, founded in 1983 by Wolfgang Marguerre, is a family-owned pharmaceutical company based in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. It bills itself as "one of the largest human protein manufacturers in the world, developing and producing human proteins from human plasma and human cell lines."

History

Octapharma was founded in 1983 by Wolfgang Marguerre, a German businessman who had previously worked in the pharmaceutical industry. The name Octapharma is derived from the Greek word for eight, referring to

Factor VIII Coagulation factor VIII (Factor VIII, FVIII, also known as anti-hemophilic factor (AHF)) is an essential blood clotting protein. In humans, it is encoded by ''F8'' gene. Defects in this gene result in hemophilia A, an X-linked bleeding disorder ...

, the blood clotting protein deficient in patients with

haemophilia A Haemophilia A (or hemophilia A) is a blood clotting disorder caused by a genetic deficiency in clotting factor VIII, thereby resulting in significant susceptibility to bleeding, both internally and externally. This condition occurs almost exclu ...

. Octapharma's inaugural product was the first

concentrate using what was then innovative solvent detergent virus inactivation technology. The underlying principle of Octapharma's R&D is the development of therapies based on human proteins either purified from human plasma or produced by recombinant technologies applied to human cell lines. On 17 April 2024, the US arm Octapharma Plasma temporarily halted its plasma donation centers due to the detection of unauthorized network activity consistent with a cyber attack, reportedly suffering from the BlackSuit ransomware. Octapharma later informed the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

and the

California Attorney General The attorney general of California is the state attorney general of the government of California. The officer must ensure that "the laws of the state are uniformly and adequately enforced" (Constitution of California, Article V, Section 13). The ...

that a threat actor accessed the network and exfiltrated files containing personal information.

Family Ownership

Octapharma remains privately owned company by the Marguerre family, and is currently led by Wolfgang Marguerre, chairman and CEO. Two of Marguerre's three children, Frederic and Tobias, have sat on the management board, with Tobias currently the deputy chairman.

Therapeutic Areas

Patients in 120 countries are treated with products in the following therapeutic areas: *

Haematology Hematology ( spelled haematology in British English) is the branch of medicine concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases related to blood. It involves treating diseases that affect the production ...

: high-purity coagulation factor concentrates for patients with

bleeding disorders Coagulopathy (also called a bleeding disorder) is a condition in which the blood's ability to coagulate (form clots) is impaired. This condition can cause a tendency toward prolonged or excessive bleeding ( bleeding diathesis), which may occur s ...

Haemophilia Haemophilia (British English), or hemophilia (American English) (), is a mostly inherited genetic disorder that impairs the body's ability to make blood clots, a process needed to stop bleeding. This results in people bleeding for a long ...

A, B and

von Willebrand Disease Von Willebrand disease (VWD) is the most common heredity, hereditary coagulopathy, blood-clotting disorder in humans. An acquired form can sometimes result from other medical conditions. It arises from a deficiency in the quality or quantity of ...

. *

Immunotherapy Immunotherapy or biological therapy is the treatment of disease by activating or suppressing the immune system. Immunotherapies designed to elicit or amplify an immune response are classified as ''activation immunotherapies,'' while immunotherap ...

: immunomodulation or

immunoglobulin An antibody (Ab) or immunoglobulin (Ig) is a large, Y-shaped protein belonging to the immunoglobulin superfamily which is used by the immune system to identify and neutralize antigens such as pathogenic bacteria, bacteria and viruses, includin ...

replacement therapy for the treatment of immune-mediated diseases and deficiencies (immune disorders including

autoimmune disease An autoimmune disease is a condition that results from an anomalous response of the adaptive immune system, wherein it mistakenly targets and attacks healthy, functioning parts of the body as if they were foreign organisms. It is estimated tha ...

s and antibody deficiency) by inducing, enhancing, or suppressing an immune response. * Critical Care: human plasma and protein products for treating critically ill or injured patients in

intensive care Intensive care medicine, usually called critical care medicine, is a medical specialty that deals with seriously or critically ill patients who have, are at risk of, or are recovering from conditions that may be life-threatening. It includes p ...

and

emergency medicine Emergency medicine is the medical specialty concerned with the care of illnesses or injuries requiring immediate medical attention. Emergency physicians (or "ER doctors") specialize in providing care for unscheduled and undifferentiated pa ...

settings.Octapharma Website http://www.octapharma.com/en/patients/diseases-therapies.html

Products

Octapharma medicines treat a broad range of rare and life-threatening congenital and acquired diseases and conditions: * Bleeding disorders (hemophilia A / B and VWD) * Over 300 types of primary and secondary immune deficiencies * Numerous auto-immune and neurological disorders * Acute conditions * Critical care issues (including trauma and burn victims) * Cancer patients * Major surgeries * Protection of new-borns in case of Rh negative pregnancies.

Production

Octapharma converts source plasma into plasma protein products through fractionation and processing. Each therapy created is controlled, fractionated, purified, virus-inactivated and inspected before being used. As of December 31, 2024, Octapharma employs around 11,000 people worldwide to support the treatment of patients in 120 countries with products across three therapeutic areas: Hematology, Immunotherapy and Critical Care. Octapharma has seven R&D sites and five state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Austria, France, Germany and Sweden, and operates more than 190 plasma donation centers across Europe and the US.

Notes and references

External links

*
Octapharma Plasma, Inc. Website
{{Authority control Pharmaceutical companies of Switzerland companies based in the canton of Schwyz 1983 establishments in Switzerland