Farmitalia was an Italian pharmaceutical company best known for its parallel discovery with Rhone-Poulenc of daunorubicin and subsequent discovery of doxorubicin.[1] Farmitalia had been founded in 1935 as a joint venture by Rhone-Poulenc and Montecatini. Farmitalia occupied a position of choice in the world rankings of the profession, not only in Italy, but also at the world level with in particular the patent of Adriamycin, an anti-cancer drug qualified. From its creation, Farmaceutici Italia buys the Schiapparelli factory.[2]
In 1978, Farmitalia was merged with Carlo Erba SpA, an Italian pharmaceutical company that had been founded in 1853 by the pharmacist Carlo Erba, in which Montecatini had acquired a controlling interest in 1971. The merged company was called Farmitalia Carlo Erba SpA.[3]
Farmitalia Carlo Erba was acquired by Pharmacia in 1993,[4] then Pharmacia was acquired by Pfizer in 2003.[5]
Drugs discovered at Farmitalia that reached the market included (with date of first publication):
- 1960 Sulfalene[6][7]
- 1963 Daunorubicin[8][9]
- 1969 Doxorubicin[1][10]
- 1980 Cabergoline[11]
References
- Weiss RB. The anthracyclines: will we ever find a better doxorubicin? Seminars in Oncology, December 1992^
- SETTIMO. La Farmitalia, storia di un'industria Giornale La Voce, 2019-04-17, retrieved 2022-07-25^
- Antonella Bilotto. Carlo Erba SpA LombardiaBeniCulturali, retrieved 9 May 2017^