Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

Lundbeck

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Traded as
  
Nasdaq Copenhagen: LUN

Founded
  
1915

Revenue
  
15.2 billion DKK (2013)

Industry
  
Pharmaceuticals

Operating income
  
DKK 1.6 billion (2013)

Headquarters
  
Copenhagen, Denmark

Lundbeck wwwlundbeckcomuploadbrandfilescreatekeyele

Type
  
Publicly traded Aktieselskab

Key people
  
Håkan Björklund (Chairman), Kåre Schultz (CEO - May 2015 - present)

Stock price
  
LUN (CPH) DKK 304.90 +5.80 (+1.94%)14 Mar, 4:59 PM GMT+1 - Disclaimer

CEO
  
Kåre Schultz (20 May 2015–)

Subsidiaries
  
Ovation Pharmaceuticals

Profiles

H. Lundbeck A/S (commonly known simply as Lundbeck) is a Danish international pharmaceutical company engaged in the research and development, production, marketing, and sale of drugs for the treatment of disorders in the central nervous system (CNS), including depression, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, epilepsy and insomnia.

Contents

Headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, Lundbeck has international production facilities in Denmark, Italy and France and affiliates or sales offices in 57 countries. Lundbeck employs around 5.500 people globally (as of 2013), and the company’s products are registered in more than 100 countries worldwide.

In 2013, the company's revenue was DKK 15.2 billion (€2.04 billion).

Lundbeck is listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange (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)

Increasing patient safety klaus hjortgaard olsen h lundbeck a s


History

The company was founded by Hans Lundbeck in 1915, and was initially a trading company supplying a variety of goods to the Danish market, including machinery for manufacturing, aluminium foil, artificial sweeteners, and photographic equipment.

Lundbeck entered the pharmaceutical market in 1924, importing medicines and cosmetics 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 department. Production continued during the Second World War, 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. In 1989, Lundbeck launched the antidepressant Celexa (citalopram), 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.

Key products

Key products are the serotonin modulator and stimulator Trintellix/Brintellix, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor Lexapro (escitalopram), and antidementia agent Ebixa (memantine).

Lundbeck manufactures drugs as:

Products under development

  • Intravenous formulation of carbamazepine for epilepsy
  • Idalopirdine (Lu AE58054 — a 5-HT6 antagonist) for Alzheimer's disease
  • Brexpiprazole for schizophrenia, adjunct ADD and Alzheimer's disease
  • Aripiprazole for Bipolar I disorder
  • Vortioxetine for adult ADHD
  • Lundbeck homepage pipeline

    Controversy

    Lundbeck formerly held the only license to manufacture pentobarbital (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.

    2013 fine

    On June 19, 2013, the European Commission 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 citalopram from entering the market. In return for the ability to maintain a monopoly on the drug's manufacture, Lundbeck offered payments and other kickbacks.

    References

    Lundbeck Wikipedia