PharmaMar is a Spanish

pharmaceutical company The pharmaceutical industry is a Medicine, medical industry that discovers, develops, produces, and markets pharmaceutical goods such as medications and medical devices. Medications are then administered to (or Self-medicate, self-administered b ...

headquartered in Colmenar Viejo, Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1986 as a subsidiary of Zeltia, it absorbed its parent company and all its subsidiaries in a

reverse merger takeover A reverse takeover (RTO), reverse merger, or reverse IPO is the acquisition of a public company by a private company so that the private company can bypass the lengthy and complex process of going public. Sometimes, conversely, the public compan ...

in 2015. The company is a component of the Madrid Stock Exchange General Index (IGBM) and the

IBEX 35 The IBEX 35 (IBerian IndEX) is the benchmark stock market index of the Bolsa de Madrid, Spain's principal stock exchange. Initiated in 1992, the index is administered and calculated by Sociedad de Bolsas, a subsidiary of Bolsas y Mercados Espa� ...

since 2020, after being part of the Ibex Small Cap stock market index. PharmaMar's key ventures include the

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 ...

, manufacturing and marketing of

pharmaceutical drugs Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...

derived from marine-related resources for the treatment of certain cancers and

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

. Its subsidiary Genomica has also developed molecular testing procedures for

infectious diseases infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...

including

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. The corporation is also known for genetic analysis and paternity testing in the Spanish market. Its subsidiary Sylentis develops therapies based in

gene silencing Gene silencing is the regulation of gene expression in a cell to prevent the expression of a certain gene. Gene silencing can occur during either Transcription (genetics), transcription or Translation (biology), translation and is often used in res ...

techniques like

RNA interference RNA interference (RNAi) is a biological process in which RNA molecules are involved in sequence-specific suppression of gene expression by double-stranded RNA, through translational or transcriptional repression. Historically, RNAi was known by ...

History

Zeltia (1939–2015)

Zeltia was founded in 1939 in

Vigo Vigo (, ; ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of province of Pontevedra, Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest ...

as a

spin-off Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media *Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work *''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine * ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...

of Miguel Servet laboratories. During these initial years, it focused mainly in the production of drugs for the treatment of

cardiovascular In vertebrates, the circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the body. It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, that consists of the heart a ...

and Metabolic Diseases and gynaecologic disorders as controlled-release insuline,

sulfonamides In organic chemistry, the sulfonamide functional group (also spelled sulphonamide) is an organosulfur group with the Chemical structure, structure . It consists of a sulfonyl group () connected to an amine group (). Relatively speaking this gro ...

Alkaloid Alkaloids are a broad class of natural product, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. Some synthetic compounds of similar structure may also be termed alkaloids. Alkaloids are produced by a large varie ...

s and

ephedrine Ephedrine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant and sympathomimetic agent that is often used to prevent hypotension, low blood pressure during anesthesia. It has also been used for asthma, narcolepsy, and obesity but is not the preferred ...

. In 1945, together with Spanish laboratories Abelló, Ibys, Leti, Llorente and Uquifa, it created the company Antibioticos SA, dedicated to packaging

penicillin Penicillins (P, PCN or PEN) are a group of beta-lactam antibiotic, β-lactam antibiotics originally obtained from ''Penicillium'' Mold (fungus), moulds, principally ''Penicillium chrysogenum, P. chrysogenum'' and ''Penicillium rubens, P. ru ...

and

streptomycin Streptomycin is an antibiotic medication used to treat a number of bacterial infections, including tuberculosis, Mycobacterium avium complex, ''Mycobacterium avium'' complex, endocarditis, brucellosis, Burkholderia infection, ''Burkholderia'' i ...

imported in bulk. In 1963, Zeltia began to be listed in the stock exchange of Madrid. In 1964, it created three subsidiaries dedicated to the agricultural industry (Zeltia Agraria), the pharmaceutical industry (ICI Farma) and the chemical-veterinary industry (Zelnova) respectively. After an agreement with the German Desowag Bayer Holszschutz, in 1975 the Xylacel brand was created, which markets products for the treatment of wood and metal. In 1984, Antibioticos SA and ICI Farma were released from the Zeltia group and in 1986 José María Fernández Sousa-Faro founded the PharmaMar subsidiary with the objective of developing Antitumor drugs from marine-based resources such as

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

. In 1991, the Zeltia group decided to enter the market of genetic and molecular diagnosis with the creation of the subsidiary PharmaGen, which in 2001 was renamed Genomica. In the same year, PharmaMar achieved its first success by completing the chemical synthesis route to obtain the first drug against cancer developed entirely in Spain, the

trabectedin Trabectedin, sold under the brand name Yondelis, is an antitumor chemotherapy medication for the treatment of advanced soft-tissue sarcoma and ovarian cancer. The most common adverse reactions include nausea, fatigue, vomiting, constipation, de ...

( ecteinascidin 743 or ET-743). This chemical compound began to be marketed under the commercial name

Yondelis Trabectedin, sold under the brand name Yondelis, is an antitumor chemotherapy medication for the treatment of advanced soft-tissue sarcoma and ovarian cancer. The most common adverse reactions include nausea, fatigue, vomiting, constipation, ...

after approval by the

European Medicines Agency The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) in charge of the evaluation and supervision of pharmaceutical products. Prior to 2004, it was known as the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products ...

(EMA) and the

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 ...

(FDA) for the treatment of

soft-tissue sarcoma A soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) is a malignant tumor, a type of cancer, that develops in soft tissue. A soft-tissue sarcoma is often a painless mass that grows slowly over months or years. They may be superficial or deep-seated. Any such unexplained ...

and

uterine cancer Uterine cancer, also known as womb cancer, includes two types of cancer that develop from the tissues of the uterus. Endometrial cancer forms from the lining of the uterus, and uterine sarcoma forms from the muscles or support tissue of the ute ...

in advanced stages. Continuing with the expansion of the Zeltia group in the field of biotechnology, the subsidiary Sylentis was founded in 2006, aimed at the development of therapies based on gene silencing. Between 2012 and 2015, Zeltia expanded throughout

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, reaching

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

PharmaMar (2015–)

In 2015, with the aim of focusing in the group's main business, PharmaMar absorbed the entire Zeltia group by means of a reverse merger. In 2018, the Xylacel brand was sold to the Dutch multinational

AkzoNobel Akzo Nobel N.V., stylised as AkzoNobel, is a Dutch multinational corporation, multinational company which creates paints and performance coatings for both industry and consumers worldwide. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the company has activities ...

and in 2019, the subsidiary Zelnova. At the beginning of the 2020, the PharmaMar group developed a specific diagnostic kit for the

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the comm ...

based on diagnostic tests previously marketed by the subsidiary Genomica. This test allows a quick diagnosis, even before the patient shows symptoms.

External links

PharmaMar

References

{{reflist Pharmaceutical companies of Spain Companies listed on the Madrid Stock Exchange Pharmaceutical companies established in 1986 Companies based in the Community of Madrid