Octapharma Explained

Octapharma AG
Type:Private
Foundation:1983
Location City:Lachen (canton of Schwyz)
Location Country:Switzerland
Locations:31
Num Employees:11,908 (2023)[1]
Industry:Pharmaceutical industry
Homepage:www.octapharma.com
Revenue:Euro 2.8 billion (2022)[2]
Products:octanate; octanine-F; wilate; Nuwiq; octagam; gammanorm; rhesonativ; panzyga; albunorm; octaplas; atenativ; octaplex; octaplasLG; fibryga
See complete products listing.

Octapharma AG, founded in 1983 by Wolfgang Marguerre, is a family-owned pharmaceutical company based in 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, the blood clotting protein deficient in patients with haemophilia A. Octapharma's inaugural product was the first Factor VIII 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.[3] Octapharma later informed the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the California Attorney General that a threat actor accessed the network and exfiltrated files containing personal information.[4] [5]

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,[6] Frederic and Tobias, have sat on the management board,[7] with Tobias currently the deputy chairman.[8]

Therapeutic Areas

Patients in 118 countries are treated with products in the following therapeutic areas:

Products

Octapharma medicines treat a broad range of rare and life-threatening congenital and acquired diseases and conditions:

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, 2022, Octapharma employs around 10,000 people worldwide to support the treatment of patients in 118 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.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. About us on https://www.octapharma.com/about-us/who-we-are
  2. Annual report 2022 https://www.octapharma.com/news/press-release/2022/octapharma-group-delivers-strong-growth-in-sales-and-operating-income-in-2021/
  3. News: Lyons . Jessica . 18 April 2024 . Ransomware feared as IT 'issues' force Octapharma Plasma to close 150+ centers . 23 October 2024 . The Register.
  4. Web site: Greig . Jonathan . 25 April 2024 . Plasma donation company Octapharma slowly reopening as BlackSuit gang claims attack . 2024-10-23 . therecord.media.
  5. Web site: 2024-09-19 . Submitted Breach Notification Sample . 2024-10-23 . State of California - Department of Justice - Office of the Attorney General . en.
  6. Web site: Wolfgang Marguerre & family . 2024-10-23 . Forbes . en.
  7. Web site: Dolan . Kerry A. . Two New German Billionaires Emerge In Consumer Electronics And Blood Plasma . 2024-10-23 . Forbes . en.
  8. Web site: Leadership . 2024-10-23 . Octapharma AG.
  9. Octapharma Website http://www.octapharma.com/en/patients/diseases-therapies.html