Block Drug

Block Drug Company was a pharmaceutical company based in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States, that specialized in dental care products. Its most popular products included Polident denture cleanser, Poli-Grip denture adhesive, Dentu-Creme denture toothpaste, Nytol sleeping pill, Tegrin medicated shampoo for psoriasis, Lava hand soaps (acquired from Procter & Gamble), Beano and Phazyme anti-gas products, Balmex diaper rash ointments, and Sensodyne desensitizing toothpaste.[1]

GlaxoSmithKline (now GSK plc) purchased the company for $1.24 billion in 2001.[2][3]

History

Timeline

1948 – introduced Ammi-i-Dent tooth powder[6][7]

early 1950s – Nytol.[8]

1964 – introduced Tegrin [5]

1971 – The company went public, trading on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol BLOCA and raising $5.2 million in its initial offering.[8] Two years later, another stock sale generated $23 million.[8] Later in the 1970s, Efferdent took over from Polident as the No. 1 brand in its space.[5]

1972 – Block named as its president James Block, who was the grandson of Alexander Block and the nephew of Leonard N. Block.[5] In 1988, James became chairman as his uncle, Leonard N. Block became senior chairman.[8] At the same time, Leonard N. Block's son, Thomas, became the company's president.[8][9]

1978 – Block Drug entered the feminine hygiene market, with the ultimately unsuccessful Gentle Spring brand.[10]

1982 – The company acquired Phazyme/700 from the Stuart division of ICI, leading to the OTC entrance of Phazyme.

1983 – The company acquired Passaic, New Jersey–based 2000 Flushes toilet bowl cleaner manufacturer Flushco.[8] In 1985, Block Drug acquired the X-14 line of hard surface cleaners from White Laboratories.[8] Block Drug later acquired Gold Bond in 1987.

1990s – Sales began to fall as Block Drug's products began to age and face new competition, and the problem was exacerbated by a lack of new products.[8]

1990 – Block Drug sold Gold Bond to Martin Himmel Inc.

1995 – Block Drug divested its U.S. Reed and Carnrick Pharmaceuticals Division to Schwarz Pharma KermersUrban and also purchased Reckitt and Colman's Carpet Fresh and Rug Fresh cleaning and deodorizing products.[9]

Late 1995 – The company acquired the Lava soap brand from Procter & Gamble.[9]

1996 – Block Drug purchased the Baby's Own line of baby care products, and then acquired Beano antigas tablets in 1997.[9]

1998 – A major restructuring took place but was not successful.[8] As part of that, the company divested Carpet Fresh, Rug Fresh, 2000 Flushes and X-14.[9] Lava was later sold to WD-40 Company the following year.

1999 – The company acquired Salisbury, N.C.–based Stanback Co., manufacturer of Stanback headache powder products.[11]

2000 – Block Drug hired Goldman Sachs as an adviser to evaluate a potential sale.[12]

2001 – At the time of its sale to Glaxo, Block Drug was reported to have $900 million in annual sales, operations in 100 countries and employed 3,000 people.[2]

fate	Acquired by GSK
successor	GlaxoSmithKline (now GSK plc)
foundation	1907
defunct	2001
location	Jersey City, New Jersey, United States
industry	Pharmaceutical
key people	Alexander Block, Leonard Block, Thomas Block, Michael P. Danziger
products	Polident, Poli-Grip, Dentu-Creme, Nytol, Tegrin, Lava Soap, Beano, Phazyme, Balmex, Sensodyne
num employees	3,000

History

Timeline

Secrecy

Aftermath

References